Harry Potter and the Rise of Emrys
by Advent of Shadows
Summary: Finally free from the Phantom Zone after being trapped for years, Harry Potter finds that the world has changed greatly. After years of being put in life or death situations, can he adapt to a peaceful life now that Voldemort and his followers have long since been dealt with and he is finally free from his prison, or will he find a new purpose and be more? Book 1 of the Emrys Saga.
1. Prologue: Freedom

Summary: Finally free from the Phantom Zone after being trapped for years, Harry Potter finds that the world has changed a great deal. After fifteen years of being put in life or death situations, can he adapt to a peaceful life now that Voldemort and his followers have long since been dealt with and he is finally free from his prison, or will he find a new purpose and be more?

Pairing: Harry Potter/Zatanna Zatara

Notes: It's been a little while since I've posted anything. I really need to stop taking breaks from writing anything. But I'm not here to talk about other projects. I'll get to them when I get to them. I've had this idea, or something similar to it, ever since I read the brilliant works of Megamatt09, along with _Wand and Shield_ by Morta's Priest.

* * *

**Prologue**

The Phantom Zone was nothing more than a timeless desert-like wasteland. By the very nature of the place, the only way out was death.

Throughout his time there, that was what he had come to believe, at least.

Because time stood still in the prison dimension, the residents had no need of any kind of nourishment. Food and water were not needed, though that did not mean that they were unwanted either. Sleep for the sake of resting the body was not needed either, though the mind was another story.

"The others will be here soon."

Those words broke him from his thoughts. The last thing he had expected was for the newest arrivals in the Phantom Zone to near where he had been holding up recently. He was certain it had nothing to do with him either. Even if he was mostly powerless in the Phantom Zone, the magic of his father's Invisibility Cloak still worked flawlessly.

Unless they were just passing through, the only reason he could imagine them coming so close to his location was the strange altar that was nearby. He had wondered what the altar was for before, but the few inhabitants that he had met since coming to the Phantom Zone were not very fond of answering questions. The only reason he knew what the place was called was because the Invisibility Cloak allowed him to sneak up on the other residents and listen in to their conversations.

Quickly rising to his feet with his cloak wrapped around his body, he crept towards the altar and saw two women and two men. One of the men was knocked to the ground just as the altar came into view.

The other man drew a dagger from his cloak and gave a threatening command that filled him with hope.

"Open the gateway."

Those words served as confirmation to a hope that he had given up on after what seemed like a few years ago. There was a way out.

He had been content to do what he could to survive for as long as he could, but that was only because he had believed that it was impossible to leave. The circumstances of his arrival had been strange enough that he had not even been able to make a guess how to leave. If he had not become the Master of Death and had all three of the Deathly Hallows in his possession, he likely would have ended up dead instead of in the Phantom Zone. That was the only explanation he had come up with as to why he had not ended up like his godfather.

"He doesn't know how," one of the women stated. "But I do. Give me the knife."

He carefully crept towards the altar as the spoke and was only a dozen or so yards away when he handed the knife over to the woman.

"It needs blood… blood of the House of El. It is the key to the gateway," the woman remarked as she looked at the knife.

"I trusted you," the downed man whispered, staring at the woman with the knife in shock.

"Trust is for the weak," the other man remarked.

"You're right," the woman with the knife said as she suddenly slit the other man's throat.

Immediately, the other woman began to attack the one with the knife, but they were not what he was paying attention to. Instead, he was looking at the man in the red jacket. It was clear from the conversation and their body language that his blood was the key to the gateway, and opening that gateway was far more important than a fight between strangers.

"The gateway! Go Kal-El!" the woman with the knife called out, prompting the man in the red jacket to run towards the altar. He gave no indication that he noticed that he was being followed closely by an invisible man.

Placing a blood covered hand on the altar, the man that she referred to as Kal-El opened the gateway. A pillar of white light formed and engulfed both him and the invisible man.

It was close. Phantoms had rushed towards them as they neared the altar. But just before the phantoms could grab them, the pillar of light pulled them into it, freeing them from the Phantom Zone.

Though it would have appeared as though only Kal-El, better known on Earth as Clark Kent, and a number of phantoms were sucked through the gateway, there was one other.

Harry Potter had finally escaped the Phantom Zone.

* * *

As he materialized back on Earth, Harry saw that the pillar of light had split into nine different beams of light, apparently separating everyone that had managed to get close to the altar.

"Now, I need to find out what in the name of Merlin is going on," he muttered as he looked around. He was standing in the middle of a cornfield. The last place on Earth he had been was the Department of Mysteries, fighting the last of Voldemort's followers.

He had not expected the gateway to send him to where he had been when he entered the Phantom Zone, but it would have been nice if it had sent him somewhere familiar.

Not knowing where he was presented a problem. He had some skill at apparition. But for all he knew, he was in South America, and intercontinental apparition was not a very smart thing to do, especially given that the only magic that had worked with the Phantom Zone was innate. The Resurrection Stone, the Invisibility Cloak, and his mokeskin pouch had worked well, but he had been unable to even light his wand with a _lumos_.

Reaching into his mokeskin pouch, he removed the Elder Wand from where it had been left for the majority of his stay in the Phantom Zone.

With a nonverbal spell, the end of the wand lit up, though his cloak concealed its light from anyone that might have otherwise been able to see it.

The light was extinguished a moment later. The knowledge that he could once again use magic truly sank in with that single spell. It took a little more effort to control than normal, though that was not surprising, given that he had been in the Phantom Zone for a while.

Still, it highlighted the probability that he would end up splinched if he tried to apparate so soon after leaving the Phantom Zone, and that was not quite how he wanted the magical world to find out that he was alive.

Sighing, he walked towards the road. Once he reached it, he lifted his wand and waited. He did not expect anything, but calling the Knight Bus was not a bad idea just in case.

He was not surprised when several minutes passed without the double-decker bus showing up. It would have been far too easy if he was actually in England or Scotland. So with that he began to walk down the road. The only option he really saw now, provided he did not want to get splinched, was to walk until he could find out where he was. It was just a good thing that he had his Invisibility Cloak on. Walking down the road in robes might have caused problems.

As he made his way down the road, a battle between the Last Son of Krypton and General Zod was being waged about twenty miles away. He, like most people, would have no idea that an alien saved the planet.

* * *

Author's Note: This story is AU from canon in many ways. I am not referring to my decision to fuse the Smallville and Harry Potter worlds either. Smallville will only be canon for the first five seasons. I still intend on using the following seasons as a guide, but I disagreed on certain aspects of the series and believe that Harry's appearance would change it up regardless. And Harry Potter is pretty much canon throughout the books. However, one Death Eater that died in the Deathly Hollows was not killed in this story, Harry did not leave the Deathly Hollows alone after Voldemort's defeat, and the Epilogue is mostly being ignored. If you want a more detailed explanation of what makes this AU, send me a message, and I will try to get back to you.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it.


	2. Smallville

**1. Smallville**

Of all the places he could have ended up, he was pretty sure that Smallville, Kansas was near the bottom of the list.

It was almost as surprising as the date: September 30, 2006.

He had been knocked through the Veil by a curse meant for Neville on May 2, 1999, the one year anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts.

He had known that his time in the Phantom Zone was not short, but to hear that he had been in there for nearly seven years and five months was hard to comprehend. It really put things into perspective for him when he considered that fact that he had only known his closest friends for eight years. There was no telling how much they had changed.

It did not help matters that he was unable to simply return as well. The United States did not really have a magical government. There was supposedly a department in the muggle government that dealt with American witches and wizards, but they were said to possess little power and instead encouraged witches and wizards to follow the laws set forth by the American government and the International Confederation of Wizards.

After Voldemort's defeat, he could remember hearing purebloods talk poorly of the United States because of how the magical population were governed. In a sense, he could understand the complaints too. While the International Confederation of Wizards did set a number of important laws, they did not actually enforce any laws. At best, they could fine the wizarding government of any nation that broke their laws, but they left the enforcing of the laws to the different nations.

But because of the lack of a true wizarding government, Harry could not simply stop by and arrange for an international portkey.

Muggle transportation was another option, but he had no identification. A Confundus charm on a piece of paper could fool any muggle into believing that they saw his passport, but it was very risky. A great deal could go wrong, especially if he happened to show it to another wizard. Granted, the Elder Wand might be capable of producing a particularly powerful Confundus, but it did not completely negate the risks.

He could use his Invisibility Cloak to sneak aboard a plane or boat going overseas, but he had fried a microwave by touching it before, so a plane was out of the question. A boat was possible, provided he could find one that was headed that way.

Unfortunately, he was in Kansas though. All the money he had on him was five galleons, so he could not even pay bus fair to get to the east coast, and using a Confundus or Notice-Me-Not Charm to get a free ride bothered him a little.

He was being a little picky, but that was only because there were two others that would work. Perhaps the best options were to stay in Smallville for a few days and work on learning to use his magic efficiently again. If his ability to cast spells with the skill that he once possessed was restored, such a long distance apparition would have been possible. With the Elder Wand, it would be much easier to simply create a portkey that would take him to England. While it was illegal to create unauthorized portkeys in most nations, he would only get a slap on the wrist at most for something of that nature. It did not hurt anyone, and the odds of him getting caught doing it were slim to none.

So with that plan in mind, he made his way to his first destination.

With the Elder Wand, it was somewhat easy to perform a Scouring Charm on himself and his clothes before transfiguring his robes into a pair of jeans and a black shirt. Fortunately, he did not have to carry around too much stuff either. His mokeskin pouch was capable of carrying his vault keys, Invisibility Cloak, Resurrection Stone, Elder Wand, Phoenix Wand, the Marauder's Map, the first Snitch he caught, and the letter from his mother to Sirius that he had recovered during the hunt for the horcruxes. It was useful having a small pouch that could hold so much.

"Where are you, Kal-El?" he asked under his breath as he made his way down the road. A simple _point me_ spell had told him what direction to go earlier that morning. He already wished that he had his godfather's old motorcycle so he could drive instead of walking. His Firebolt would have been nice too, but he would settle for walking if it was the only way. Even if the guy did not know that he freed him from the Phantom Zone, it was only right to thank him.

As he made his way down the road, he noticed something very peculiar. Somehow, a barn door had been ripped off and was partially imbedded into the ground. The only barn that he could see nearby looked as though it was at least half a mile away.

Shaking his head, he made his way towards the house where that barn was located. His last spell had pointed to that house, which only added to the mystery.

He had known all along that no ordinary human would have ended up in the Phantom Zone, but it clearly was not a magic prison, even if it could render a wizard powerless. So it was only natural that he wondered what was different about this… _Kal-El_.

As he reached the door, Harry knocked and waited patiently. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the barn door was missing, making a small smile come to his face.

It did not take long for someone to open the door. On the other side was a middle-aged woman with long brown hair.

"Hi, can I help you?" the woman asked politely, looking at him curiously.

"I hope so," Harry replied, growing serious. "I'm looking for someone. I think his name is Kal-El."

He did not need to know how to use legilimency to tell that the question made her very nervous.

"I don't know anyone by the name," she said, clearly trying to make her voice sound sincere. It might have fooled him if he had not seen her reaction to the name.

"Look, I don't know why that question made you nervous, but he helped me out. I was just dropping by to thank him."

Her demeanor changed dramatically after he said that. "I guess it won't hurt to let you in. He went out a little while ago, but he'll be back soon."

"Thanks," he replied, exhaling a sigh of relief. Idly, he wondered how it was possible that he was not there at the present though. His spell pointed directly at the house right before he passed the barn door, and he should have seen a car or truck leave the house from that distance.

"Can I get you something?" she asked.

As if on cue, Harry's stomach growled, causing him to look sheepish. "It's been a while since I last had something to eat," he admitted.

He wondered how horrorstruck Ron would look when he heard that he went seven years without eating anything.

"I can do that," she said as she started cooking some lunch.

* * *

Just as Harry finished his lunch, the person he was looking for entered the house.

"Clark, this young man came here to speak to you," the woman said as soon as he shut the door.

He looked curious at that, only to look alarmed at Harry's next words.

"I'm not very good with words, so I'll just be blunt. Thanks for helping me out yesterday, Kal-El."

"I don't understand what you mean," he said, taking a slight step back.

"That's the name that the woman used when she told you to get to the altar. Sorry if that's not your real name," Harry said, shrugging. "All the same, thanks for getting me out of there, even if you didn't know you were doing it."

"You can call me Clark. Wait, you were in the Phantom Zone," he said, eyes widening in shock. "That place was for criminals. If you were there, then…."

"What was your crime then?" Harry asked dryly. "I was knocked through this portal and landed in that wasteland. I spent seven years there until you showed up. I probably would have never gotten out if you hadn't shown up. It would have been nice if it sent me back to London, but anything's better than the Phantom Zone."

"You're human?"

"Of course," Harry replied, looking at the other man curiously. "Other than the phantoms, everyone looked human. Are you saying they weren't?"

The look in his eyes was answer enough. It was clear that he had not expected a question like that.

"So if you're not human, then what are you?" Harry asked.

"I never said I was an alien."

That single statement earned a bemused look from Harry. "So you're an alien. That's pretty cool. How about we make a deal? You tell me your secret, and I'll tell you mine. I bet you're wondering how I got into the Phantom Zone, aren't you?"

Though he looked nervous, Clark took the deal.

As they shared their stories, Clark completely forgot that he had come down with a cold as a result of being in the Phantom Zone.

Once the two finished their stories, Clark exchanged a look with his mother before he turned back to Harry.

"If you want, you can stay here until you're able to go back home," Clark offered. "I'd just have to ask that you're careful with your abilities. You never know when someone might show up."

"Thanks for the offer. I know how to be discreet though," Harry replied. They had only shared the basics, neither wishing to delve into the deepest aspects of their secrets.

Revealing the existence of witches and wizards to muggles, even though one could likely take on almost every witch or wizard that he had ever met, was a big risk, but it was easy for him to see that Clark would take a secret to the grave if he was asked to.

"I need to find a place where I can practice my spells. I'll be back in a few hours," Harry said as he rose to his feet. Reaching into the mokeskin bag, he removed his original wand, catching their attention.

"That's the secret to your magic?" Clark asked, staring at the small piece of wood.

"It's a focus. Nothing more," Harry said, shaking his head. To prove it, he placed his wand on the table and focused his attention on his place, causing it to slowly lift. Once it was about six inches off of the table, he hovered it for a little while and then lowered it just as slowly. "It's easier with a wand." He chose not to mention that there were not many spells that he could do wandlessly or that most wizards were unable to do that much.

Picking up his wand, he cast a whispered Undetectable Extension Charm on one of his front pockets and stowed it away for now.

"Thanks for lunch," he said to Mrs. Kent before he washed off his plate and left the room.

Less than five minutes after he left the room, Lionel Luthor showed up to tell Clark that Lex was missing.

* * *

After leaving the farm, Harry put on his Invisibility Cloak and apparated to a forest he had seen a few hours earlier. Fortunately, the distance was not far enough to be too difficult, even if he was out of practice. He only had a little more recent practice when he apparated Dumbledore to Hogwarts after obtaining the fake Horcrux, after all.

As soon as he appeared, he began to cast Muggle Repelling Charms. They were the same spells that Hermione had taught him during the Horcrux Hunt back in the Second Wizarding War. After he had a Notice-Me-Not Charm in place as well, he put his cloak back in his mokeskin pouch and removed the Marauder's Map from it.

Tapping it once with his wand, he said, "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Before his eyes, the map appeared. He had been unable to activate it in the Phantom Zone, but now he could check on some people. He smiled as he saw familiar names on the map. Names like Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, and Pomona Sprout had been expected. Names like Argus Filch and Sybill Trelawney had been expected but left a bitter taste in his mouth. Seeing Horace Slughorn's name on the map surprised him, though he did not necessarily care about that name being there. But one name surprised him. Neville Longbottom was walking back and forth in the front of a classroom.

"Mischief Managed," he said before folding the map and putting it back up.

With the knowledge that Neville, the person he ended up in the Phantom Zone in order to save, was fine, he began his training with the resolve that he had not shown since the war.

As he practiced different spells, ranging from the simplest of charms to the strongest curses he knew, his eyes never strayed to the sky. If they had, he would have noticed the swan-sized scarlet bird with a long golden tail that flew overhead.

* * *

The sun had already set by the time Harry returned to the Kent Farm.

The first person who he saw upon entering the house was Clark.

"Are you alright?" he asked, looking at the young alien.

"I just have a cold," Clark said, shaking his head. "The Phantom Zone weakened my immune system more than I expected. I'll be fine."

"It's one nasty place," Harry agreed. "I'm just glad to be out of there. Too bad you didn't show up years ago."

"I can't say I'm happy that I was ever sent there, but it's good to know that something came of it," Clark admitted. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you end up going through the portal that sent you to the Phantom Zone?"

Harry considered the question for a minute before answering. "I was an auror. I guess you could say that it was my job to deal with people that used their powers for dark purposes. We went after _dark_ wizards, but it's only an accurate description if you consider anyone that uses their magic to harm, control, or kill with provocation a _dark_ wizard."

"I think I know what you mean," Clark said. "It's not quite the same, but I've had to deal with… I guess you'd call them _metahumans_… that used their powers to steal, harm, or kill. It was never really a job, but someone had to do it."

"There will always be those that want to use their powers for reasons like those," Harry remarked. "I wonder how everything will be back home though. Unless something has happened, it should all be pretty peaceful. There was a war between wizards. It started back in ninety-five, and it ended in ninety-eight with the death of the darkest wizard I've ever met. I was knocked through the portal fighting the last group of supporters of that wizard. The curse wouldn't have done too much damage normally, but anyone that passed through the portal would have been killed, so I pushed my friend out of the way, only to get hit instead. Fortunately, it didn't kill me. Instead, I landed in the Phantom Zone. There were times when I might have preferred death, but it was worth it in the end."

"It sounds like you made a difference," Clark remarked. "The knowledge that you can make a difference with your powers… I guess you could say that it's what drives me."

That caught Harry's attention. "Would you mind telling me about some of your adventures?"

Nodding, Clark started with some of his earliest adventures.

Over the next week, a number of similar conversations would occur, building the basis of a great friendship.

* * *

One week later, Harry had an announcement to make after they finished breakfast.

"I am leaving today," he said, looking across the table at Clark.

"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked, surprised by the sudden decision.

"I'm ready," Harry answered, nodding his head. In the past week, he had gotten to see what kind of man Clark Kent truly was, and he really did respect him. "I appreciate your hospitality, but I need to return to Europe. I get the feeling that this won't be the last we see each other though."

"Any idea how you're going to explain to everyone what happened to you?" Clark asked curiously.

"No clue," Harry replied, shaking his head. "I'll figure it out when it comes to it."

Rising to his feet, he bade them good-bye and made his way outside. As soon as he was out of the door, he dropped a galleon on the ground and pointed the Elder Wand at it.

"Portus," he intoned, creating his first intercontinental portkey. He quickly replaced the Elder Wand with his Phoenix Wand and reached down to touch it. Unless someone searched him and discovered his second wand, there was no way anyone would be able to find out that he created the portkey.

Placing his land hand over the galleon, he activated the portkey and disappeared. It would not be the last they saw of him though.

* * *

Author's Note: I originally planned for him to stay in Smallville longer before returning to England, but I realized that there are some things I need to take care of before I can really have some fun with him in Smallville and Metropolis. Rest assured that the majority of this story will be focused on the DC aspect of the story. This is not about Harry getting together with a superhero and having a large role in the wizarding world.


	3. Can't Come Home Again

**2. Can't Come Home Again**

Some people might have found it to be a strange choice, but the portkey destination was Grimmauld Place. Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, the Burrow, the Forbidden Forest, and Surrey all had issues. The last thing he wanted was to be spotted by someone that would spread the news of his return. After being so famous before his disappearance, he wanted to be able to go a little while without the press bothering him.

Going to a heavily warded building that he owned and could only be inherited by his godson seemed to be the best option. Before his disappearance, he was actually living there with the pair so that he could help raise his godson. Given that he had not seen Teddy since he was one year old, he liked the idea of seeing him once again.

The portkey dropped him off about three feet of the ground, resulting in him slamming into the floor, face first.

"Who was that?"

He quickly rose to his feet and saw Andromeda Tonks walk into the room with her wand out. Her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Harry?" she whispered in shock.

"The first time I met you, I went for my wand thinking that you were Bellatrix," Harry said, holding up his wand sideways so that she could see it.

"But how could you still be alive?" she asked in shock. "They saw you fall through the Veil. It's impossible to survive that."

"I've been hit with the Killing Curse twice," he pointed out before showing a faint scar on his arm. "I was also bitten by a basilisk in second year. I don't stay down."

"There's more to it, isn't there?" she asked, staring at him as if looking for an answer.

"There always is," Harry agreed. "Let's just say that I was occupied until last week. As soon as I was able, I came back."

"You were occupied?" she asked carefully.

"I'd explain it if I knew how, but I had no way of returning," he answered with a nod. "I need you to keep this quiet though. I'd like to talk to some people before word spreads that I'm still alive. But first, you tell me what's changed since my… disappearance?"

Nodding, Andromeda grew deep in thought. "I suppose I should begin with the aftermath of your disappearance."

"I am curious about how everything went down after I fell through the Veil," Harry admitted.

"Apart from you falling through the Veil, no one died in that fight. Seeing you fall get knocked through it rallied your friends to finish things quickly. Bellatrix and the others have been in Azkaban ever since," Andromeda explained. "Things were not exactly simple after that though. You were more than just a wizard. You were an icon. When news spread that the Man-Who-Conquered had fallen in battle, it was a sad day for the Wizarding World. But some good did come out of it."

"Oh?" Harry asked, surprised to hear such a thing.

"You made your point-of-view known on quite a few subjects before your disappearance, and those subjects were quickly dealt with by certain politicians. For the first time in history, muggleborns and purebloods have the same rights. Even werewolves cannot be discriminated against. Perhaps most importantly of all, the crime rate is the lowest it has ever been in recorded history. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Auror Department were criticized for being unable to stop the last of the Death Eaters from reaching the Department of Mysteries, resulting in their funding being increased to ensure that something like that could never happened again."

He was not sure what to think of that news. It sounded like a good thing, but out of the twenty-six years that he had been alive, fifteen of them had placed him in life or death situations. He knew how to deal with conflict. Dealing with peace was a completely different matter. He honestly did not know how to deal with it.

"What happened with my friends since I've been gone?" he asked a moment later.

"Well, your friend Ron was an Auror until five years ago and then joined the Chudley Canons as a Keeper. He is currently married to another of your friends, Hermione Granger. She played a major role in the drafting of a number of critical laws, but she's currently unemployed. I hear that she's working on a book about the Second Wizarding War while she waits for her first child to be born."

That news surprised him. He honestly had not thought that they would have ended up together because of how different they were. Sure, he had been happy for them when they got together, but he had still been skeptical it would last too long.

"Neville Longbottom resigned from being an Auror shortly after your disappearance. He went on to become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. He's been there five years and is now married to Ginny Weasley. She is currently the Seeker of the Holyhead Harpies and has been since she graduated."

Hearing that the guy he saved ended up marrying his ex-girlfriend was a surprise, but it did not bother him. Ginny was in the past. He had loved her at one time, but the separation after sixth year had changed too much for them to get back together.

"Luna Lovegood never ended up marrying. It's been a couple of years since she last visited England, but she's a rather well known magizoologist," Andromeda remarked.

"What about the Weasley family?" he asked after a moment of thought.

"There have not been any more deaths in the family, fortunately. Arthur and Molly are doing fine. In fact, Arthur is Kingsley's Undersecretary at the moment," Andromeda explained with a smile. "All their children are married too. You were at Bill's wedding, but you missed the birth of his daughter Victoire. I heard that Charlie married another dragon handler, Percy married a woman named Audrey, and George married a woman named Angelina. She was one of the chasers on your team, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yeah, she was," Harry said, shaking his head with a smile. It was nice to hear that everyone was doing so well. But now he had an important question to ask. "It's been nearly seven and a half years since my disappearance. So tell me… am I still missed?"

That question seemed to make Andromeda grow sad.

"Every year, Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, Bill, Fleur, George, Arthur, and Molly visit your grave with us. To us, you'll always be missed, but most of them have gotten over it enough that your name isn't a taboo."

He nodded in understanding of what she was saying. Her words put him into a difficult position though. If he were to truly return to the wizarding world, it would have a great impact on everyone that had mourned for him. If he stuck around, things would be better in the long run, but from the sounds of it, the wizarding world that he knew was gone. It sounded as though he no longer had a place in the current wizarding world.

"I need you to keep my return from Teddy," he said after several moments of silence. "Tomorrow, I'm going to visit Kingsley. Before I make a decision, I need to talk to him."

"I understand," she replied with a knowing look in her eyes. "The only thing I ask is that you don't suddenly leave. Teddy is still your godson. Even if you decide not to return to our world, you should still be a part of his life. I understand if you decide to wait until he's a few years older and less likely to reveal the fact that you're alive, but don't completely disappear on him."

He had to bite back a chuckle at how well Andromeda read him. Before he could ask the question that came to his mind, she answered him. "He's spending the day at Shell Cottage, so you won't see him today."

* * *

The next day, Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak as he sat across from the most powerful person in magical England, Kingsley Shacklebolt. A whispered _Muffliato _before he sat down ensured that their conversation would be kept private.

"Hello Kingsley," he greeted, quickly catching the man's attention.

"Harry Potter?" he asked in shock, staring at Harry like he had just seen the ghost of Merlin.

"In the flesh," he replied before handing over his original wand.

"That wand fell through the Veil. I'd know it anywhere," Kingsley said, studying Harry carefully.

Nodding, Harry showed him the small scar that he received from the second Killing Curse that he had been hit with. He had kept the scar's existence hidden from everyone but Kingsley.

"How did you survive?" Kingsley asked once he recovered.

"I told you that I reunited the Deathly Hallows. Apparently, being the Master of Death means that you don't die when you pass through the veil. You end up in this dimensional prison that aliens created. It's known as the Phantom Zone."

Kingsley just stared at Harry in disbelief. "Have you been reading _The Quibbler_?"

"I'm not joking," Harry said flatly. "It's incredible, but it's the truth. That's why I look exactly like I did the last time I saw you. Time was meaningless there."

"I know better than to second guess you," Kingsley said, shaking his head. "How did you escape?"

"I used my cloak to sneak behind someone that could open the gateway out of there," Harry answered with a sigh. "Magic was mostly useless there, so I'm still not at one hundred percent. As soon as I was sure that I had recovered enough to make a portkey, I returned. I'm not so sure I should have though."

"Why do you say that?" Kingsley asked in shock.

"I visited Diagon Alley before I came here. I've seen how happy people are. I know how peaceful everything is. I don't have a place in the wizarding world anymore. Dumbledore did what he believed was right, but war and conflict defined who I am. I cannot settle down and become a quidditch player or a teacher. After fifteen years of fighting for my life, that is not who I am. And let's face it, being an auror now would be pointless. I would just end up spending most of my day walking around or sitting at a desk. Given how I disappeared for seven years, sitting at a desk is what most people would push for."

He paused, remembering the stories Clark had told him of his time in Smallville and Metropolis. The fights against metahumans and using his abilities to save lives… that was more his speed than sitting at a desk all day.

"Does the wizarding world even need me? I might be seen as a savior, but I'm also a symbol of power and war. What do you believe?"

Kingsley grew deep in thought before he spoke. When he did, his words surprised Harry a little.

"I could never thank you enough for what you did, but you're right. You aren't needed here. If you cannot settle for a normal life, maybe this isn't the place for you. To be honest, I don't see you enjoying your time here anymore. Seven years ago, you may have been able to live an ordinary life, but I can see that this _Phantom Zone_ changed you. You have a hard look in your eyes that you didn't have when I last saw you. But I think you already knew that you've changed too much for this place. Why did you really come here?"

Harry nodded in agreement. Kingsley was right. He had already realized that he did not have a place in the wizarding world anymore. He had made the decision before leaving Grimmauld Place that morning. All that he had seen and heard only proved that his decision was the right one. "I need help. I could go to Gringotts and get enough money to live comfortably somewhere else, but it will cause problems if I have no identification or if I'm supposed to be dead."

"You were never listed as dead, legally. I can have my contacts in the muggle government get you new copies of your birth certificate, along with a passport so that you can go somewhere else. It might be a good idea to change your birth date so that no one questions your age. It might be for the best for you to use a different name though. If you ever end up in the newspaper, muggle or magical, your name would attract attention," Kingsley suggested.

"That's a good idea," Harry conceded. "However, I'd prefer that you left my age alone. I can just say that I age well. It'll be easier to let something slip if we change too much, but I think I'll have to go with a different name. Let's go with Harold Ignotus Peverell, and if you can manage it, I'd appreciate citizenship in the United States."

"That is a strong connection to who you really are," Kingsley remarked, though he did not seem put off by any of his requests.

"I am aware of that," he said with a ghost of a smile. "Naturally, I'd like this kept a secret. It wouldn't do for anyone to find out that I'm alive."

"Of course," Kingsley said in the calm, reassuring voice that Harry had long since associated him with. "I'll have it all ready by the end of the week."

"Good. I'll be going then. Andromeda is the only one that knows that I'm back. I'll need to drop by Gringotts personally, but I will have Andromeda pick up some supplies for me. I could probably get everything done without anyone noticing me, but I don't want to take the chance of someone realizing who I am."

"I will floo over once I have everything ready. If I can, I'll get you dual citizenship in the States," Kingsley said.

With a nod, Harry wrapped the cloak around him, canceled his spell, and left the room.

* * *

Gringotts was not one of his favorite places to go.

He had liked the place when he was eleven, but the decision to break into the Lestrange vault had left him uncomfortable every time he visited afterwards. Gringotts had wanted to confiscate at least one of his vaults in reparation, but Kingsley had stepped in and smoothed things over by pointing out that Harry defeating Voldemort had resulted in a number of vaults being confiscated by the Ministry and split with the goblins, following one of the many treaties that had been signed between wizardkind and goblins. One such vault had been the Lestrange vault, as a matter of fact.

Because he had resulted in them making enough to pay for the repairs ten times over and the knowledge that a horcrux had been kept in that vault, they had opted to forgive his transgression. That did not make the goblins look upon him any more positively, unfortunately.

Breaking away from that train of thought, he approached one of the tellers and said, "I need to speak to my account manager." As he spoke, he handed a piece of paper to the goblin.

The goblin took the piece of paper, only to grow shocked upon reading what was written upon it.

Without saying a word, the goblin guided him to a private room.

Once the door was shut, the goblin chose to speak.

"You claim to be Harry James Potter."

"That is my name," he agreed, lowering the hood of his cloak and holding out the keys to the Potter, Black, and Peverell vaults.

"You just won't die, will you?" the goblin asked with a feral smile.

"I don't intend to at the very least," Harry retorted. "Now, can I see my account manager? I have some business I need to attend to. I need some discretion on this matter as well."

"I will go and inform Bearclaw immediately," the goblin said before leaving the room, not looking too pleased by the task.

Taking a seat, Harry waited for his account manager. He did not have to wait long though. A goblin with a wiry build entered the room after a short while.

"It is surprising to learn of your continued existence," the goblin remarked, staring at Harry carefully.

"I like surprising people," Harry replied. "Now, I would like to know the status of my accounts." The Potter account had always been his largest with the Black account close behind. The Peverell account had not been used in centuries when he claimed it. As a result of no one controlling the account for so many years and Gringotts continuing to charge fees for the usage of the vault, the once large fortune within had dwindled considerably.

"As there was never proof of your death and there was no one who could have countermanded the last requests you made upon your accounts, they are all still active and making money. The Potter account now has a balance of approximately one and a half million galleons, while the Black account has an approximate balance of seven hundred and fifty thousand galleons and the Peverell account has an approximate balance of one hundred thousand galleons. The investments worked far better than predicted."

"I would like to close the Peverell account and reduce the Potter account to an exact total of five hundred thousand galleons. If possible, I would like all but ten thousand of those galleons converted into American currency," Harry said, doing his best not to grin at the bewildered look on the goblin's face. "I am taking care of some things. Once it is all taken care of, I will be returning to the States. Unfortunately, I cannot access Gringotts or use galleons where I will be living."

"Understandable," the goblin said, taking a deep breath. "With the current conversion rate and our conversion fees, that will total up at just under eleven million dollars."

The number surprised Harry, but he did not react outwardly. "I would also like Andromeda Tonks to have permission to remove funds from the Potter account so long as she has written consent each and every time."

"I will arrange it," Bearclaw stated, though he did not look pleased by what he was hearing. "I must also inform you that when you disappeared, a small number of your possessions were moved to the Black vault by Andromeda Tonks. The list includes a motorcycle, a sidecar, a Firebolt broomstick, a chest full of schoolbooks, and a pensieve."

"I would like to retrieve those objects from the vault," Harry said, happy to hear that he had his godfather's motorcycle at the very least. He was a little rusty with the Disillusionment Charm, but he was already thinking of flying to the United States on the motorcycle.

"Would you like to personally retrieve them, or do you wish for us to have them delivered to your place of residence?"

"I'll retrieve them now," Harry replied as he rose to his feet and replace the hood over his head. "That will be all."

Grumbling, the goblin led him out of the room.

* * *

By the time he returned to Grimmauld place, Harry was very glad that he had decided to leave half a million galleons in the Potter account. There were two reasons he had not emptied it. The first was because Teddy, as his godson, would inherit the vault. The second was because his plans called for him to need to have some wizarding money left in England. He was not the Lord of the House of Black, but he was the account holder of the Black account. As such, the money within it was his by right. However, he had given Andromeda almost full control over the account before his disappearance. It was mainly because she was a Black and was his godson's grandmother. So even if he had the right to use the money in that account for his plans, he felt that it was better to leave it alone.

But there was another reason that he was glad that he only took two-thirds of the Potter account when he left the bank. That reason was because carrying eleven million dollars in cash was not as easy as he had imagined. It was only thanks to magic that he was able to carry it without too much of a problem, but his repertoire of spells did not delve into the subject of altering the weight of an object, so it was still heavy. In the end, he had placed all the cash in his old school trunk with an Undetectable Extension Charm to make it all fit.

Once he put away his stuff in his room, barring his motorcycle which was hidden by a Notice-Me-Not Charm outside, he headed towards the kitchen and saw Andromeda.

Not too far away from her, he saw his godson seated at the table.

"Andy, can I talk to you?" Harry called after stepping out of sight.

"I'll be right back, Teddy," she said before she walked out of the room.

Once she came within sight, Harry said, "Listen, I need a favor. I have ten thousand galleons, and I'm going to make a list of things I need. Can I get you to go out tomorrow and buy some supplies for me?"

"Of course," Andromeda replied with a look of understanding.

"Thank you. I will be returning to the States once Kingsley comes through with some identification that I asked for. In the meantime, I'd like to get to know Teddy. He's only eight years old though, so I have to ask for another favor. Can I get you to place a Tongue-Tying Curse on Teddy so that he cannot talk about me being alive or visiting?"

"If anyone else asked me to curse my grandson, I would show them why I was born a Black," Andromeda muttered under her breath. "Fine, I will cast it on Teddy to stop him from revealing this, but I will remove it if you don't visit. I'm only doing this so he can get to know his godfather."

"Don't worry, I'll visit," Harry promised, thinking how bad it sounded. Seven years in the Phantom Zone had made him forget certain things, such as it being a stupid idea to ask a woman to curse her grandson.

With that, the pair went back into the kitchen so that Harry could begin to get to know his godson.

* * *

One week after his arrival at Grimmauld Place, Harry Potter was getting ready to leave.

He had been ready to go for three days already, but he had opted to spend time with his godson instead. That was not the only thing that he had done either. Not all the things on the list he had given Andromeda were for his time in the States. The only thing that was different was an expensive potion that was able to correct vision problems. It had been invented after the Second Wizarding War, but he had not had the chance to take it before his disappearance. But now, he no longer needed his glasses. That was not to say that he got rid of them though. He simply replaced the lens with regular glass.

The sidecar of his motorcycle was filled with a small black chest, his old school trunk, and a brand new trunk that carried a large number of books, potion supplies, and clothing.

"Be careful," Andromeda said as she stood next to Teddy, looking at Harry with a hint of sadness in her eyes. After having him around for a week, she was going to miss him. Of that, there was no doubt.

"I will," Harry promised as he started the bike. "Would you care to do the honors?"

"Of course," she said before she pointed her want at the bike. The Notice-Me-Not Charm would stop most from paying any attention to the bike, but it was not fool-proof. "Celaverimus."

The sensation of having a raw egg cracking over his head made Harry shudder for a moment. Within moments, he was concealed from any onlookers, along with the bike.

"I'll contact you when I get back," he said before he took off, flying through the air on the bike.

And just like that, Harry Potter, or Harold Ignotus Peverell as his new birth certificate said, was on his way back to the States.

* * *

Author's Note: There's another chapter down.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone says that the chapter seemed like it was rushed. I had a hard time writing this, to be honest. I'm not really sure what made it difficult to write either. Maybe it's because I was getting anxious to start his time as a hero and interacting with the characters of Smallville. It's kind of hard to say. But this won't be the last time that Harry returns to England. I only have one more visit planned. One more that will be showed, at least. I do have plans for a few more Harry Potter characters to show up in the Smallville/Metropolis answer though. Unless something changes, one will take up the mantle of a superhero that was created by DC and two will become original supervillains.

With that said, I do want to go ahead and say that I wrote this chapter and had to go back and edit certain things, so if you see a place that doesn't make sense, feel free to bring it up to my attention. Don't reference his decision to leave the wizarding world as not making sense though. If you don't see what he made his decision, then that's fine. I did explain it, though it could be considered vague. It will be explained more in depth later on.

And on one final note, if you wish to see a character show up in this story, even if they were not in the Smallville series, feel free to make a suggestion. I'm always open to such suggestions. For the most part, Harry Potter character suggestions won't be accepted, however. I want to keep the number of Harry Potter characters low, hence my decision to have most Harry Potter characters that show up to have them only show up once. The only exceptions that I have planned are Andromeda, Teddy, one mystery hero, and one mystery villain. I will not take suggestions for that hero unless it just blows me away, though I would consider suggestions for the mystery villain, provided that good reasons are given.

Thanks for reading.


	4. A New Purpose

**3. A New Purpose**

Thirty-two hours after his departure from Grimmauld Place, Harry was parking his motorcycle in the middle of a warehouse that he had just purchased. At ten thousand square feet with a much smaller basement, the warehouse was perfect for what he had planned.

An idea had formed in his head ever since he heard Clark talk about how it felt when he used his powers to help others. Every day since that first conversation, the idea had developed further. If he had no place in the wizarding world anymore, then there was another place where his abilities could do good: the muggle world.

It had startled him at first. The simple idea of openly using his abilities as a wizard to help muggles would have been absurd to most wizards. It would have been easy to bring the wizarding world out of the shadows by doing something so drastic.

But there were no wizarding laws against what he intended to do. It was not as if he was going to reveal the existence of the wizarding world. Even if someone realized that he was a wizard because of his actions, all they would discover was that there was a single magic user out there.

As it was, he had no intention of being obvious about his abilities though. By applying what he knew about the Levitation Charm, the Summoning Charm, and the Banishing Charm, he had been able to essentially use telekinesis wandlessly. It was his main ability with wandless magic, as a matter of fact. And from what he had heard, it was not an ability that was unheard of. Clark had spoken of a few incidents where telekinesis was used by other people.

Getting off of his bike, he began to remove everything from his sidecar so that he could find room for it.

The small black chest that he removed first was something that he had wanted most of all. It was only about a foot and a half long with its width and depth closer to twelve inches. Most people would never have guessed what it really was either. It was actually a vanishing cabinet, though calling it a cabinet was not quite correct. The other one was still at Grimmauld Place. As a result, he could easily send letters to Andromeda quickly.

Next, he removed his old school trunk. Beneath the cash that was at the top of its contents, the trunk contained every textbook that he had used in his Hogwarts years, along with a number of additional books that he had gotten Andromeda to purchase for him or that he had taken from the Black library.

After that, he removed his new trunk from the sidecar. It contained all the books he had brought with him that would not fit in his other trunk, a large stock of potion ingredients that would have enabled him to make nearly any potion out there, and three sets of special clothes.

Those _special_ clothes were specifically designed for the plans he had come up with. The only exceptions among the apparel in that trunk were the two wrist holsters for his wands. They could be used for his plans, or they could be used to keep his wands easily accessible in case he needed to use them in a fight. Seeing as his plan did not call for the usage of wands, the holsters were not really intended for his plan.

He carried both trunks and the vanishing chest down to the basement and made his way back to his motorcycle. He needed to get some more furniture for the place, along with some more clothes to help him fit in. Seeing as how the sun was going to still be up for another six hours at the very least, he decided to head back out.

He still needed to find a place to live. As nice as the warehouse was, he could not turn it into a home. He needed a place with plumbing, amongst other things. He also needed to go and pick up some more clothes so that he could fit in better. As such, he did not even bother to disconnect the sidecar before he started the bike up and drove it out of the warehouse.

* * *

By nightfall, everything was prepared.

Harry had managed to find a fairly nice apartment downtown. He was not sure if it would be his permanent residence or if he would find a place to live in Smallville, but it would do for the present. He already had a portkey created that would take him back and forth from his apartment to the warehouse, so the distance did not mean anything.

The warehouse did not look much like it had originally. Bookshelves lined the north wall, along with the northern half of the east and west walls. They were not as filled as he would have liked them to be, but he still had well over a hundred books. A table had been placed in the center of the library area of the warehouse. Chairs surrounded the table and his pensieve had been placed in the center of the table. It looked like a decoration there, but it was just the most convenient place at the moment. The only other thing in the base floor of the warehouse was his motorcycle, still parked only a dozen yards away from the table.

In the basement below, he had created a lab for potions. All his potion ingredients had been stored away in cabinets with a cauldron waiting in the center of the room. He still needed to begin brewing a potion, and he had one in mind already.

But that would have to wait for now.

His eyes fell upon the clothes that had been laid across his table. No one would be able to tell the origin of the clothes. No one outside of the magical world, at least. The black leather-like boots, gloves, and hooded duster were made from the hide of a Hungarian Horntail. The pants, shirt, and mask were made of black Acromantula silk. Upon the front of the shirt, he saw an emblem that brought a sardonic smile to his face. It was the symbol of the Deathly Hollows. With the circle representing the Resurrection Stone, the line going through the circle and extending farther upward representing the Elder Wand, and the triangle that enclosed the line and circle representing the Invisibility Cloak.

Even if he did not plan on revealing his identity as a wizard, that symbol alone would eventually make it back to the wizarding world. Even so, he thought it would be worth it.

With the Elder Wand strapped to his left forearm and his original wand strapped to his right forearm, Harry began to change into the set of clothes.

Once he had the boots, pants, gloves, shirt, and coat on, he put his mask on. The only thing that it did was cover the part of his face around his eyes. A sticking charm kept it in place. It was not the best way to disguise his face, but it would do enough.

Removing the Elder Wand, he touched his lightning bolt scar with it. Within moments, the scar faded. It was not really gone. It was a simple Glamour Charm that could hide his scar. Any witch or wizard would have noticed the presence of the charm, but that did not mean that it could be seen through by just any magic user.

Once the wand had been replaced in its holster, he lifted the hood of his coat over his head.

Deciding that he was completely ready, he got on his motorcycle and left the warehouse. This time, the sidecar was gone.

Because of his decision to use the motorcycle in his plans, he knew that he would need to stop driving the motorcycle around when he was not wearing his costume, but that was for the best.

The moment that he was outside of the warehouse and it was locked up, he took to the skies on his bike. The Muggle Repelling and Notice-Me-Not charms on the warehouse would stop anyone from paying it too much attention. But for now, he had something that he needed to do.

From the many stories that Clark had told him, he had come to understand that Clark did not deal much with the more mundane criminals, instead only getting involved to help his friends or deal with a super-powered individual that wished to use their abilities to harm or kill people.

While Harry had no qualms about getting involved in similar situations, it was not going to be the only thing he did. Seeing as how he had no knowledge of such people in the area and he was too anxious to wait any longer, dealing with lesser criminals sounded like a very option.

His pushed the exhaustion he felt to the back of his mind as he headed towards the part of Metropolis that was had more issues with crime than any other: Suicide Slums.

He almost fondly remembered the years where he did not seek out trouble. It was always easier to get to the source of a problem when trouble sought him out. It was one reason why fighting in the Second Wizarding War had been far more difficult than saving the Philosopher's Stone, finding the Chamber of Secrets, saving Sirius from execution, winning the Triwizard Tournament, and other such tasks. The true difficult was not in the task itself but in obtaining the information as to how to complete the task.

Information was a vital part to countless things. Without information, he could not proceed with his plans. As a result, his plans for the night came in two parts. The first part was to help anyone that he saw needed it, and the second was to obtain information.

Not long after reaching Suicide Slums, he heard calls for help.

Quickly scanning his surroundings, he saw a woman in the process of being mugged.

It was not exactly what he had been looking for, but it was workable.

His motorcycle flew towards the alleyway where the woman was being mugged. The landing was a little rough, but it did not matter in the slightest.

"Leave her alone," he commanded as he got off of his motorcycle, the attention of the mugger and the woman both firmly upon him. The loud motorcycle had attracted their attention, but the fact that it had been flying was what kept their attention firmly.

"Who in the hell do you think-" the mugger began as he pointed a gun at Harry.

Before the mugger could finish, Harry extended his right hand and summoned the handgun without a single word. Moments after reaching his hand, he casually tossed the handgun aside.

The sheer impact of that action stunned the mugger into silence.

Lifting his right hand up slowly, the mugger was lifted into the air by an invisible force.

"I will take care of him," Harry stated, looking at the woman.

"Thank you," the woman whispered quietly before she ran off.

Once she was gone, Harry turned his attention firmly upon the mugger.

"More than likely, she is calling the cops right now," he remarked idly, suppressing a smile at the panic in the man's eyes. "The sooner you answer my questions, the sooner I let you go. If you hurry, you may actually get away before they show up. But if you lie to me, you will discover how creative I can be."

The instant he finished speaking, he rotated his wrist quickly, causing the mugger to spin a single rotation.

"What do you want to know?" the mugger asked with a hint of fear in his eyes.

"I want to know everything there is to know about the criminals of the area," Harry answered simply. "Tell me everything you know about the criminal side of Metropolis, and you will be free."

As expected, the man broke down within moments and revealed absolutely everything he knew about the subject to Harry. It was not as much as he had hoped, but at the same time, it was more than he had expected. It was a good first piece of information nonetheless.

The moment that he had all of the information he had wanted, Harry used his powers to slam the mugger into the wall with just enough force to knock him unconscious. If the woman had called the police, they would easily find him. If not, then the man would simply have to deal with a splitting headache, provided that no one robbed him while he was unconscious.

Turning so that he could return to his bike, he saw that there was a man on the other side of it. He appeared to be an African-American man in his late forties that wore a black leather jacket, a red shirt, and dark pants. There was something different about him though, despite being unable to tell exactly what.

"Can I help you?" Harry asked as he casually walked over to his bike and swung a leg over it.

"I hope so," the man replied calmly. "My name is J'onn J'onzz. I have been wishing to meet you ever since you left the Phantom Zone alongside Kal-El, but it was difficult to find you alone until today. It is not yet time for him to meet me, thus I had to wait."

Harry quickly began to utilize occlumency so that his reactions could not be easily read. The moment that he did, his mind began to feel lighter, almost as if something had been intruding upon his mind too softly for him to easily tell. "In that case, be prepared to lead. I will follow you on my bike."

Much to his shock, the man actually began to fly through the air without anything to aid him in such a task.

Without missing a beat, Harry flew on after him on his motorcycle. It quickly become clear that the stranger could fly faster than Harry's bike could go. Fortunately, he left a trail of red light when he flew, enabling Harry to easily follow him.

They ended up flying completely away from the city. It was a fact that alarmed him more than he would have cared to admit. It was rather obvious that whoever this _J'onn J'onzz_ was, he could fly even faster than a Firebolt and had apparently slipped into his mind without even noticing until he was gone. The only possible advantage that Harry had was the terrain, but it was clear that he was losing that advantage.

They did not fly for long though. Before too long, they landed in a field between Metropolis and Smallville.

The moment that they landed, Harry touched the Elder Wand so that he could quickly draw it if need be.

"There is no reason to get anxious," the other man remarked as he turned to face Harry. Suddenly, his appearance changed. His clothes remained the same, as did his overall body shape. At most, he might have grown a few inches taller. There were two noticeable changes though. The first was that he had no visible hair and his skin had turned green. And the second was that his eyes were glowing red.

"You referred to Kal-El," Harry said carefully, not letting go of the Elder Wand. "Are you an alien too?"

"Neither one of us is human. That is true," the green-skinned man stated. "However, we are very different at the same time. Kal-El is from Krypton, as he told you. I, on the other hand, am from Mars."

Harry looked surprised at the news, unable to mask it.

J'onn's appearance returned back to normal before he spoke again. "I apologize for reading your mind earlier, but I had to determine the truth and could not risk being told lies. In my experience, it is better to be overcautious than careless."

"How much did you see?" Harry asked with narrowed eyes. He had never had someone go through his mind without any idea of what they had seen. Legilimency had never worked in such a way on him, after all.

"I know everything that has happened since you were transported to the Phantom Zone. How you arrived there is not something I can understand, and I sent several prisoners there while working alongside Jor-El, Kal-El's father."

"If you ever do that again, you'll regret it," Harry stated, his voice as cold as ice. Even as he spoke the words, he had no idea how he would defeat the Martian if it came down to it. With his speed, any such endeavor would not have ended up going too positively for Harry.

"It will not happen again," the Martian stated calmly. "Jor-El asked me to look after Kal-El for him, so I needed answers when you were released from the Phantom Zone. Too much relies on him for anything to happen to him."

"You said that you sent prisoners there," Harry said after a few moments of silence.

"I have been called _the Martian Manhunter_ in the past. It was my job to capture dangerous criminals and send them to the Phantom Zone," J'onn explained. "But I am not here to talk about the past. If that is what you wish to discuss, we can do so later. But for now, I must ask for your assistance."

Harry could not deny that he was surprised to have someone read his mind and then ask for his help.

"I must first ask that you keep this encounter to yourself," J'onn said in a serious tone. "It is not yet time for Kal-El and I to meet, and he has other matters to worry about. Nine beings left the Phantom Zone when the gateway was opened. It is nearly unheard of for someone to go to the Phantom Zone without committing a grave crime. Even if we had no idea what else escaped, it would be too dangerous to assume that you were accompanied by innocent people."

"I saw the light broke off into nine beams," Harry said, remembering when he materialized back on Earth.

"Kal-El has already encountered one of the escaped prisoners, but I do not believe that he suspects that she came from the Phantom Zone. Even if he did, he would have no way of knowing how many others escaped. I ask that you visit him soon and tell him what you saw that day."

"That's a strange request," Harry said, raising an eyebrow. "You've been watching over him for Merlin knows how long, yet you've never involved yourself in his life. So why do you suddenly want something to change?"

"I am forbidden to interfere with his trials. However, you are not. I would not suggest attempting to deal with the escaped prisoners yourself, but that does not mean you have to sit idly," J'onn replied. "I would have let him figure it out on his own if I had not encountered you, but I believe that it would benefit him more if you told him what you saw."

Harry still looked at J'onn suspiciously, but he eventually nodded his head. "I'll tell him, but you owe me."

"And what exactly do you want in return?" J'onn asked, unsurprised by Harry's words.

"Never speak of what you saw in my head to anyone without my permission," Harry said, finally removing his hand from the Elder Wand. "If you do, I will find a way to kill you. You saw what I had to do to survive in the Phantom Zone, so don't let yourself believe that I can't kill when I have to."

"Understood," J'onn said, not showing even a hint of worry on his face. "If you need to speak with me in the future, burn your mark in this field and I will find you."

Before Harry could say anything else, J'onn flew off with his incredible speed.

"That complicates things," Harry muttered as he walked over to his bike. He had accomplished the information gathering task that he had set forth for himself, but it seemed minor now in comparison with what J'onn had told him.

Taking a deep breath, he walked over to his bike.

"If this is considered one of his trials, I'll let Clark deal with this on his own. I'll just have to make sure I'm around in case it gets to be too much," he muttered under his breath, feeling the exhaustion set in.

And with that, he removed the Elder Wand from its holster, turned his bike into a portkey, and placed a hand on it, returning to his warehouse without having to worry about being seen.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, along with the favorites and alerts.

Now, I want to make one thing clear. How a character was introduced in Smallville (provided it happened after Season 5) doesn't necessarily affect this story. Zatanna showed up towards the end of Season 8, but she will show up much earlier in this. Maybe around Chapter 5. Likewise, I will not be using Slade Wilson as he appeared in Smallville. I liked how he was portrayed in Arrow, along with how he was portrayed in Injustice: Gods Among Us, more than in Smallville. You'll see what I mean as the story moves on.


	5. The Shadow of Metropolis

**4. The Shadow of Metropolis**

The next morning, Harry apparated a few minutes away from the Kent Farm. He could have taken his motorcycle, but the mugger and the woman that he saved the previous night both saw it clearly. It was unlikely that there were too many motorcycles of the same make, model, and color in Metropolis, especially since the motorcycle had been slightly enlarged. It was not too big, but it did make it stand out in comparison to other bikes of that model.

If anyone looked at him carefully, they would have noticed that he was in possession of something that connected him to the incident the previous night.

On his right ring finger, he wore a silver ring that was inset with a black stone. A close look at that stone would have showed the mark of the Deathly Hallows. It looked so similar to the ring that Marvolo Gaunt once wore but with a silver band instead of a gold one.

He doubted anyone would realize that the mark was even on the ring though. It was not exactly easy to see, after all.

In all honesty, he had no idea why he had searched for a ring in the Black vault and replaced the stone it once carried with the Resurrection Stone. Of the Deathly Hallows, he had once believed that it was the best, but it was actually the one he used the least. It had kept him sane in the Phantom Zone, but it was always depressing to see someone he cared about brought back by the stone.

Breaking away from that train of thoughts as he reached the front door to the house, he knocked three times and waited.

Within a few moments, Clark opened the front door.

"Harry, I didn't expect to see you here," Clark remarked, surprise clear on his face.

"I got back yesterday and found an apartment in Metropolis. I thought I'd see how you've been," Harry replied with a genuine smile. While J'onn J'onzz had asked him to visit Clark, he had planned to do so even before their encounter. "Anything interesting happen since I've been gone?"

"Nothing I couldn't handle," Clark answered with a slight smile. "Come on in. How did everything work out back home?"

Once he was inside, Harry said, "I saw my godson and his grandmother. That went pretty well. But I decided to let the rest of my friends go on as they were."

Clark looked at Harry as if he had grown another head.

"Do you ever wish you were normal?" Harry asked abruptly. Though surprised by the topic change, Clark nodded his head. "It's not all that it's cracked up to be. Once you go from being like us to being normal, you can't help but feel lost. Imagine feeling lost for seven years and then having a chance to finally find yourself but at the cost of having to leave your friends behind. I could have stuck around and been miserable even with my friends around me, I could have let them know I was around and hurt them by turning away from them, or I could have just kept my continued existence a secret and spared them the pain of me leaving again or having to watch me feel miserable. It seemed lkike the best option. I just hope they understand when they find me."

"When they find you?" Clark asked as he sat at the kitchen table, still processing what he had just been told. It was not a pretty thought for him at all.

"My friends will eventually realize that I'm still alive. It could take weeks, months, or even years, but it will eventually happen," Harry explained with a shrug as he sat down. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn't manage to make them think I was dead forever."

"Then why didn't you just visit them when you were overseas?" Clark asked, still not understanding.

"Because they won't all find me," Harry stated. "Some of them have probably moved on by now. The ones that haven't might end up finding me. If they do, I can probably handle the situation better than if I told them where someone could realize who I am." What he was choosing not to say was that spending nearly a month being tortured in the Phantom Zone and over seven years shedding more blood than he cared to remember in order to survive… it had changed him. Being around too many people made him anxious.

"If you think that's for the best," Clark said a little skeptically.

"But on to more pressing news… have you run into any of the phantoms that escaped?"

Clark seemed to come to a complete halt when he heard those words. "What are you talking about?"

Harry feigned astonishment at that. "I thought you knew already. When we escaped from the Phantom Zone a couple weeks ago, we were split up. That pillar of light split up into nine different beams when it reached earth. Considering that the phantoms were kind of close to us when the gateway opened, I figured that a few of them must have come with us. I assumed you noticed that."

"I can't believe I didn't see it," Clark said, shaking his head. "I must not have been paying attention. I did not notice those beams of light at all. But if you're right, then there are still seven… no, six… Zoners left in our world."

"Zoner?" Harry asked, amused by the term.

"Escaped criminals from the Phantom Zone is a little long," Clark replied. "Do you have any idea how to find them?"

"It might be best to just relax for now. I'll have my contacts keep an eye out for them. Odds are that they'll end up finding out one way or another anyways."

Clark looked reluctant upon hearing that, but he could not deny that Harry spoke the truth.

Before he could say anything in return, Clark noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

"That's an interesting ring you have." The moment he finished speaking, he grabbed the newspaper and held it up. The same mark that was on the ring was on the front page of the newspaper.

"I had a busy first night," Harry remarked with a shrug.

"You have a flying motorcycle and managed to get on the front page after a single day?" Clark asked.

"Apparently," Harry said, shaking his head. He could not fathom how he got on the front page. Granted, the flying motorcycle part may have been part of the reason, but he only dealt with one small time criminal.

"A flying motorcycle?" Clark asked again.

"It was my godfather's," Harry answered, shaking his head. "Maybe I should have grabbed a broom instead. Then I could still ride my bike around."

"You have a broom that can fly?" Clark asked, disbelief evident in his tone.

"Only about a hundred and fifty miles per hour," Harry replied nonchalantly. "If you could figure out how to fly, you'd probably have me beat."

Clark had mentioned to Harry that he would eventually get the ability to fly and that he had started to do it on a few occasions but could never figure out how to control it or use it at will. He actually knew about all of Clark's abilities, even if he had no idea what his weaknesses were.

"I'm not so sure I'd want to go that fast," Clark said skeptically.

After watching the Martian Manhunter fly, Harry had no doubt in his mind that Clark could fly faster than any broom if he could master his ability.

"Have fun using your super speed on the ground then," Harry retorted with a laugh. "But seriously, I can't imagine anything better than flying. There's nothing quite like it."

"I'll have to take your word for it," Clark said, shaking his head. "I'm not the biggest fan of heights, to be honest."

"An alien that doesn't like heights. That's like a bad joke," Harry remarked, making Clark nervously look around. "Relax. I scanned the place when I showed up and used a few privacy spells when you let me in. There's no one here but us. Even if you yelled as loud of you could, no one outside of the house would be able to hear you."

"You're pretty thorough," Clark commented.

"When your kind has spent hundreds of years keeping our presence a secret from the rest of the world, you learn that it pays to be thorough," Harry said. "If I needed to, I could erase the memories of this conversation from the mind of any eavesdropper, but I'm not that good with the Memory Charm. Plus, if someone were to eavesdrop without me knowing about it, I wouldn't be able to do that."

"You can do that?" Clark asked, straightening his posture.

"Magic is only limited by your imagination. There isn't much that's really impossible. Just very difficult," Harry answered. "If you ever decide you want to go for a ride just to see how you like flying, just say the word. I do have a sidecar that you'd be welcome to ride in."

"I'll have to pass for now," Clark said, still overwhelmed by what he had learned.

"In that case, I better head back to Metropolis," Harry said as he removed a slip of paper from his pocket and extended it out to Clark. "If you need anything, visit the apartment at this address. Unless it's nighttime, I should be there. If I'm not, the spells I placed on the door will alert me if anyone tried to get in."

"Maybe next time you stop by, I can introduce you to my friends," Clark suggested.

"Next time, maybe. But for now, I need to start working on something at my base."

"You have a base?"

With a smile, Harry waved his hands, removing the Muffliato charms that he had placed through the house upon entering. The moment they were gone, he vanished with a cracking sound.

* * *

After leaving the Kent Farm and going out for lunch, Harry immediately went to work in his lab. He wished that he had the Half-Blood Prince's book still, but he was not exactly terrible at potions even without it. Some of the potions out there would be very useful to have at his disposal, especially things like Veritaserum, Felix Felicis, and Polyjuice Potion.

But he was not ready to create such a complicated potion and instead focused on simpler things. So while the lacewing flies stewed for the polyjuice potion that he hoped to start in a few weeks, he worked on a Blood-Replenishing Potion, a Calming Draught, some Essence of Dittany, a Forgetful Potion, an Invigoration Draught, some Murtlap Essence, a Pepper-Up Potion, a Restoration Potion, and a Sleeping Drought. None of the potions except for the Restoration Potion took more than an hour to complete, with Essence of Dittany and Murtlap Essence taking only a few minutes to prepare due to them only being potions in the barest sense of the word.

The only break that he took was to fix a light dinner.

After he finished the potions, he placed preservation charms on them, put them up in his cabinet, and cleaned out the two cauldrons that Andromeda had picked up for him. Once it was all done, he changed into his costume once and applied the Glamour Charm over his scar again.

This time, he did not make a move to his motorcycle, instead wandlessly summoning his Firebolt. It had been far too long since he had last flown on a broom.

He still vividly remembered every piece of information that he had gotten from the mugger the previous night. It was not as much to go on as he would have liked, but it was enough to track down a few of the drug dealers that the mugger had known about. He would just have to get information from them.

His only other option was to look into the dealings of Lex Luthor, but even if he had been told the truth, Lex Luthor did not sound like the type of guy that he was ready to go up against until he was ready.

Shaking his head, he mounted his broom and took off. It was time to do his part in making the streets of Metropolis safe.

* * *

A couple days later in Sweden, a twenty-five year old woman with dirty blonde hair and silvery gray eyes smiled, looking at the latest issue of the Daily Planet. Most of her kind did not bother with reading muggle newspapers, but she had never been too normal. Once again, that proved to be a good thing. Otherwise, she would not have seen the mark of the Deathly Hallows.

"The identity of the vigilante known as _the Shadow of Metropolis_, but he is always seen wearing all black with his mark in gray. His only known physical traits are light skin, short to medium length black hair, and bright green eyes," she read aloud. It was not much to go on, but there was only one person that she knew of who fit that description and would wear the mark of the Deathly Hallows.

Only her, his two closest friends, and the Minister had been told of his acquisition of the Deathly Hallows. It was only thanks to her father that she even knew about them beforehand, though that was apparently how he learned of them too.

"I wondered when you would show back up," she commented with a dreamy expression.

With that, she simply put the newspaper away and continued her search for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack. She had come to understand that some magical creatures simply did not exist, but it was important for her to go on one last search for it before she could truly stop believing in its existence.

And then, Luna Lovegood would head to Metropolis to see her old friend. He would understand that she had something that needed to be done.

* * *

Luna Lovegood was not the only one that recognized the symbol on the front page of the Daily Planet though.

In her dressing room in Gotham, the Mistress of Magic was looking at the paper, tracing the symbol with her fingers.

"The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and the Invisibility Cloak," she murmured as she traced the line, the circle, and the triangle. Her father, John Zatara, had told her the tale of the Three Brothers when she was a little girl. After his recent death, she had found his notes suggesting that the Deathly Hallows were not simply plot tools in a fairy tale. She had been trying to come up with a plan to obtain her father's book from Lex Luthor, but finding the Deathly Hallows could be even better. Provided that the Shadow of Metropolis had a connection to them and was not simply using a symbol that he liked, at least.

She still had a few commitments stopping her from heading to Metropolis right away, but she made a mental note to start arranging for her show to go to Metropolis as soon as she was free. One way or another, she would find the Shadow of Metropolis.

* * *

In another part of Metropolis in his office, Oliver Queen shook his head as he looked at his copy of the Daily Planet. After discovering that his girlfriend's friend had superpowers, having his identity discovered by the aforementioned friend, and having his girlfriend abducted by some people that believed she knew who the _Green Arrow_ was, the last thing he had expected was to find that he only managed to show up on the second page of the Daily Planet. Maybe it was a little vain, but he had never imagined that a black wearing vigilante could manage to show up and have such an impact.

Apparently, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor was not as significant as hand delivering a couple dozen drug dealers to the police station with enough evidence to ensure that none of them could get away unscathed.

"Am I the only vigilante without powers?" he muttered, rereading the part about the Shadow of Metropolis being able to use telekinesis. Apparently, he could also teleport, fly on a broom, and ride a flying motorcycle.

Shaking his head, he decided to keep an eye out for the new vigilante. He had already recruited Bart Allen, Arthur Curry, and Victor Stone to assist him in certain matters, but five people could potentially do better than four. If Clark Kent proved amenable, it might jump up to six instead.

But first, he needed to learn more about the Shadow of Metropolis. It was not hard to understand Clark Kent, but that would never have happened if they had not met and discovered each other's identities.

So with that, he began to do some research in an attempt to figure out everything that he could about the newest vigilante in town.

* * *

Author's Notes: The first thing I want to say is that the Shadow of Metropolis is not Harry's superhero name. It is like "the Blur" or "the Green Arrow Bandit". It's used originally but is replaced with another name. He will address the lame superhero name soon.

In case you didn't notice, this chapter started before and ended a couple days after Arrow, Episode 4 of Season 6. Next chapter will begin six weeks after he escaped from the Phantom Zone. Writing about Harry fighting common criminals isn't really exciting, so I imagine it would be worse to read it. That doesn't mean that he's slacking off. It should not be forgotten that Harry doesn't work or have any responsibilities outside of his vigilante actions. He spends the days creating potions and reading the books that are in his warehouse, while he spends the nights dealing with the criminals of Metropolis. Hopefully, next chapter will answer the questions I've received about Harry fighting metahumans, along with introducing more interaction with the characters of Smallville.

I look forward to seeing what everyone thinks of the plan I have for next chapter as well.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. Hopefully, I should have two more chapters up tomorrow. It really just depends on how distracted I get.


	6. Emrys

**5. Emrys**

"I was wondering when I'd be seeing you again," Harry remarked as he apparated inside his warehouse, only to see J'onn J'onzz waiting for him.

"You have been busy," J'onn stated, looking at Harry carefully. "It's just been over three weeks since you became the _Shadow of Metropolis_, and you have been responsible for more arrests than I would have suspected. I've noticed that you are keeping your distance from Kal-El and his friends, however."

"I am not Clark," Harry pointed out. "I don't live two lives at once. I only put on a mask so that I can be seen during the day without anyone going after me. I'll always be there if he needs help, but he needs to do as much as he can on his own."

"After what you went through, perhaps it would be for the best if you chose to interact with others," J'onn countered, reminding Harry that he had read his mind in the past. "But that is not why I am here. I wanted to let you know that Kal-El has recently learned about one of the phantoms that escaped. He was known as Baern. He is not Kryptonian, but he has strength and speed on par with on. And to make matter worse, he is capable of absorbing radiation and using it as a weapon. I have faith that Kal-El can handle it, but there is a complication. Today, he encountered another escapee from the Phantom Zone. Fortunately, she was sent there to escape the destruction of Krypton rather than for crimes, but she is also the last female Kryptonian. While Kal-El could end up victorious, I fear that he will truly be the last Kryptonian once it is dealt with."

"You want me to ensure that she doesn't die in the process?" Harry asked.

"Correct," J'onn replied. "Jor-El once guided Kal-El through his Fortress of Solitude, but the release of Zod from the Phantom Zone appears to have crippled the Fortress for now. The Kryptonian girl that was released from the Phantom Zone was his father's assistant, and he trusted her. Until the Fortress is back online, it would be good for him to have her. And even afterwards, she could look after him so that we don't need to interfere as much."

"Where are they?" Harry asked, walking over to the table and fastening his wand holster on his left forearm. He slid his original wand into it, opting to leave the Elder Wand behind.

"They had an encounter with the phantom right before I traveled here. They have gone to the Fortress of Solitude in an attempt to lure the phantom there. They have already begun their plan."

"I better get moving then," Harry said, grabbing one of his dragon hide coats and putting it on. "I just need to figure out how I'm going to get there."

A soft melody played through the room suddenly, appearing to bestow peace upon them both.

Turning, Harry saw the last thing he had expected.

Fawkes had just flamed into his warehouse.

"Can you take me there?" Harry asked, looking the phoenix in the eyes. From what Andromeda had told him, Fawkes had not been seen since Dumbledore's funeral, which made his sudden appearance even more unexpected. He was not about to complain though.

In response, the phoenix song played again and Fawkes flew towards him. Landing on his shoulder, they both turned into fire and disappeared.

* * *

Harry appeared just in time to see Clark get blasted back by a beam of radiation.

The attacker began to launch another attack at Clark, only for the Kryptonian girl, who just so happened to be the one that was at least partially responsible for Harry escaping the Phantom Zone, to step in front of him to block it.

"Protego Maxima," Harry intoned, pointing his wand in front of the Kryptonian girl.

A shimmering blue barrier formed in front of her and blocked the full force of the attack, leaving spider web-like cracks all throughout the barrier.

"If you're going to do something, you better do it now," Harry said as he walked over to the Kryptonian girl with his wand pointed at Baern.

"Who are you?" the Zoner asked, anger clear in his eyes.

"I'm the Master of Death," Harry answered as a bolt of red light shot from his wand, only to be dodged by the Zoner.

"The only death you are a master of is your own," Baern retorted as he rushed towards Harry and threw a punch.

The punch never landed through. Harry's eyes glowed momentarily, sending him flying backwards.

Quickly, Harry used his magic to lift Baern into the air like he did to common criminals in order to interrogate them. Much to his surprise, he found that it took considerable effort to hold him in place.

Just a few more seconds, and Baern would have broken his telekinetic hold. It never happened though. Instead, Clark shot some kind of beam of light from a device that he was holding.

Harry just watched on as Baern's spirit was stripped from the body and returned to the Phantom Zone.

"That was a close one," Harry commented, looking at the Kryptonian girl. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, looking at Harry in surprise.

"Not that I'm complained, but what are you doing here?" Clark asked, looking at Harry in confusion.

"My sources told me that you might need help, so my friend took me here."

With that, he pointed at the scarlet bird that was flying above their heads.

"Was that magic?"

Harry looked at the other Kryptonian upon hearing those words. "Yes it was, Miss…"

"Harry, this is Raya. Raya, this is Harry," Clark said, realizing that they had not yet been introduced.

Raya took an involuntary step back upon hearing that name. "Are you _that_ Harry?"

"You've heard of me, I take it?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "I didn't think anyone that knew my name actually walked away."

"What are you talking about?" Clark asked, looking between them as if hoping for answers.

"The Phantom Zone is a rough place. Apparently, I have a reputation from my time there. I didn't run into anyone that wanted to be friends, so you can guess what kind of reputation I may have earned," Harry explained with a shrug. "It doesn't really matter though. What's done is done."

"You are right, of course," Raya agreed, albeit reluctantly. "I thank you for your assistance. I never would have imagined that magic would save me."

"I could have helped you earlier if Clark had actually contacted me," Harry said, looking at Clark pointedly. "But I'm glad I could help. I might not be around next time though, so try not to sacrifice yourselves unless you have no choice. You're the last survivors of Krypton, so you should try to stay alive."

"We never tried to be anything else," Clark said, shaking his head.

"That's good to hear," Harry said, looking back at the formerly possessed teenager. "In any case, I should head back. Try to look out for each other in the meantime."

Fawkes flew down and landed on his shoulder once he finished speaking.

"That you for showing up to help us when you did," Clark said sincerely.

"What are friends for?"

And with that, Harry disappeared once again.

* * *

Upon returning to the warehouse, Harry found that J'onn was waiting for him.

"That did not take you very long," J'onn remarked.

"If you had showed up even a minute later, I would have been too late," Harry said as he removed his coat and hung it over one of the chairs at the table. Fawkes meanwhile flew over to the far wall and perched atop a bookshelf. "But in the end, I was able to block that Baern guy's attack and Clark was able to send him to the Phantom Zone with some crystal."

"You did well, yet I sense that you are distressed," J'onn said.

Harry did not say anything at first. It was true that everything had gone well, but his speed and reflexes were only at the level of a human. At the present, he had no way to deal with someone with greater speed, like Clark or J'onn. His telekinesis abilities had enabled him to hold of Baern, but it had been a close thing. If he had used his wand to perform that bit of magic, it might have held better, but it would not have lasted forever. Only the Elder Wand or some other focus of similar power would have been able to hold him back for as long as needed. The Elder Wand needed to be protected instead of used where someone could break it, though, and no other wand had the kind of power that the Elder Wand possessed.

An idea sparked his mind suddenly. It was not something he had considered, but it could work. Looking over at Fawkes, he saw the bird nod his head.

"I'm just thinking about my weaknesses," Harry finally said. "I will be leaving Smallville for a few days. I'd rather not take a break in my patrols, but it's necessary for now."

"Would you like me to step in?" J'onn asked, surprising him. "My shapeshifting abilities would allow me to take on your form, and I could wear one of your costumes. If you are okay with me doing so, I can fill in for you. The only issue is that I cannot use telekinesis, but I am capable of modifying the memories of any witnesses so that they believe I used it."

"Can you use a staff?" Harry asked, nodding slowly.

"I can. It's just been a while since I used one," J'onn replied.

"Then I'd like you to step in. I'll write down all the information I still have on the criminals of Metropolis and leave it for you. Just try not to get caught using abilities I don't have. Using a staff will be safer than modifying memories, especially if someone sees you and you don't know it," Harry said as he retrieved one of his suits and handed it to J'onn." I appreciate the help."

"Might I know where you are going?" J'onn asked as he took the suit.

"I am going to see my godson. And then, I am going to visit an old acquaintance. I'll be leaving after I go out on patrol tonight. Hopefully, it should only take me a couple days. If I'm not back by Tuesday, check the black chest on the table. Anything placed inside of it is teleported to its twin at my place in England, so it's the quickest way I have to send messages back and forth."

"I will do that," J'onn said, turning away from him. "Good luck."

They went their separate ways after that.

* * *

That night, Harry donned his costume once again. With a glamour charm on his scar, his glasses left at home, and a simple spell to hide his accent, he was ready to continue his work.

It was impossible to tell what vehicle he was going to use on any given day. Between his bike and his broom, he did have a little variety.

But this time, he was taking neither.

"Let's go, Fawkes," Harry said as he held out an arm.

The majestic bird landed upon his arm and brought them both to Suicide Slums in an instant.

"Let me handle the first one. Once I say the word, you can start taking them to jail," Harry said as he began to walk towards his first target. Behind him, Fawkes gave a soft musical cry. To an outsider, it might have sounded harsh, but the bond between them made sure there was no misunderstanding.

"How many times must I step in?" Harry asked as he approached a meeting between what looked to be a drug dealer and a junkie. "You'd think I'd have been able to get all the dealers out of Suicide Slums by now, but you just won't stop popping up."

As soon as his words were heard, the drug dealer pulled out a gun. But he was not the only one. What he had thought was a junkie proved to be something different. He pulled a gun out and pointed it at Harry as well.

"I'm not going to let you keep running them out!" the junkie yelled, clearly upset at being unable to easily feed his addiction.

"You're the Shadow of Metropolis," the dealer said, taking a nervous step backwards.

"You wouldn't believe how much I hate that name," Harry remarked as he waved his hand, ripping the guns from their hands with telekinesis. "The Shadow of Metropolis lacks creativity. If it wasn't for the fact that I am the third vigilante to show up in Metropolis in the last five years, I daresay that I would be called the Vigilante of Metropolis instead."

"Who are you then?" the dealer asked in spite of himself.

"Me?" Harry asked, shaking his head. "You can call me Emrys."

And with that, he telekinetically slammed the dealer into the wall and threw a bolt of red light at the junkie with his right hand. The wandless and wordless stunner did its job.

"Let's get to business now, Fawkes," Harry said, pulling a list out of his pocket and marking out a name on it.

Fawkes quickly used flame travel to bring both unconscious men to the police station. Once the phoenix was done with the task, he landed on Harry's shoulder and took him to their next destination.

* * *

Just after Harry finished with his last task of the night, he ran into someone that he had only heard about vaguely.

"An archer with a fetish for green leather… you must be the Green Arrow Bandit," Harry said as the figure landed in front of him. The alleyway had been intended to be used to hide his apparition back to his warehouse, but it seemed that he had to do something else first. He idly wondered if he should have gone with Fawkes back to the warehouse instead of telling him he could return there after taking the last criminal to jail.

"And if it isn't the Shadow of Metropolis. Let's face it, I have a better code name, especially after they took the bandit part off of it," Green Arrow retorted as he took a few steps towards Harry.

"I hear that you steal from the rich and give to the poor," Harry commented, ignoring the dig about his moniker. "If you've come after me, you're barking up the wrong tree. I don't do this for a check."

"I'm here on a different kind of business," Green Arrow said, growing serious. "A few weeks ago, I resolved to drop by and see you about something if you proved to be a good man. You have single-handedly taken out a hundred drug dealers and even more muggers, pickpockets, and overall scumbags. You have never used lethal force, yet I wouldn't be surprised if you would if you had to. I had hoped to know more before I contacted you, but I'm willing to take a risk. I am putting together a team of like-minded individuals that can come together in order to do what can't be done alone."

"Could you be anymore vague?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow. "No offense, but I don't even know what you intend for this group to be about."

"I intend for this group to do what we do but on a greater scale. Sometimes, one man can't do everything," Green Arrow said, not looking offended in the last.

"In one week's time, meet me here. I will give you my answer at that time. But until then, keep your distance," Harry said as he turned his back to Green Arrow. "One week isn't too much to ask for, is it now?"

"No, it's not too much to ask for at all," Green Arrow replied as he turned his back and began to walk away.

Nodding, Harry apparated back to his warehouse so that he could get everything read for his trip. Asking for a week was only necessary so that J'onn did not run into the guy when he was filling in for him. Plus, it would give him time to seek out Clark and see what he knew about the Green Arrow.

* * *

The next day, Oliver Queen was sitting in his office looking at the newspaper once again. The Daily Planet had already managed to run a story about the previous night's adventures of their favorite vigilante.

According to the paper, he had once again taken out a dozen criminals in a single night, but that was not all. Two of the criminals had reportedly heard him talk, claiming that he did not like the name that had been bestowed upon him and instead called himself Emrys. A message had been engraved in a piece of wood and left at the police station with all the unconscious criminals as well. With the mark that had been seen upon the vigilante's costume engraved under it, the message had been clear.

_You may call me Emrys._

"Emrys, huh?" Oliver asked, thinking aloud. "Well, it's a step up from the Shadow of Metropolis. But you have to wonder why someone would go with that."

Myrddin Emrys was the Welsh name of Merlin Ambrosius, who was perhaps the most famous wizard of all time. Though he had never seen proof that magic existed, it was entirely possible that Emrys actually possessed magic and had chosen the name because of its connection to Merlin. But at the same time, it was entirely possible that choosing a name associated with Merlin was meant to intimidate people into believing he had magic. Telekinesis was rare, but it was not necessarily magic."

Shaking his head, he resolved to figure out the mystery of Emrys, but he needed to wait for the week to end so that he could get his answer first.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, I hope that chapter was everything I said it would be and you guys were hoping for.

I had intended for Luna and Zatanna to appear a little sooner, but they will both appear before too long. I intend to introduce Zatanna as soon as Harry returns from England again. I just need to decide if I will skip the trip and bring her in next chapter or if I'll show the trip and bring her in the chapter after next.

I hope Raya's survival was a surprise to you all too. To be honest, I don't think Raya's death really made that big of a difference in the series, and I have been rewatching the series so that I don't mess anything up too badly. As a result, Raya will be around to serve as Clark's friend, advisor, and ally.

And on a final note, I do want to address something that you may be wondering. At this moment in the story, what other characters have started their hero careers? Though they aren't widely known, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Green Lantern are all out there already. They are all less than a year into their crime fighting careers, however. Green Arrow actually started shortly after Batman did and before Green Lantern did, but I shouldn't have to mention him.


	7. To London and Back

**6. To London and Back**

The next morning, Harry walked into a shop that he had not been inside since he was eleven years old.

Like the last time, he felt hidden power lurking beneath the surface. It was only natural, though, given the sheer quantity of wands present.

"Mr. Ollivander, I am glad to see that you are still around," Harry said from beneath his cloak as he approached the elderly wand maker. To an average mortal, his age would have been considered great, but he was a wizard, not an average mortal. He was a still younger than Dumbledore had been, so he still had quite a few years. He had thought of Dumbledore as an old man, yet he was still twenty-three years shy of the average life expectancy of a wizard. That was just the average, of course. One of the most extreme cases that was not aided by something like the Elixir of Life was Armando Dippet. He had gone on to live three and a half centuries.

"That is a voice I have not heard in years," Garrick Ollivander remarked, staring at Harry curiously.

"Call me Mr. Peverell if you have to, but I'd rather you not mention any other names you may know me by," Harry said as he removed his original wand and handed it to Ollivander. He proceeded to remove the Elder Wand as well and put it on the counter between them.

"I would know this wand anywhere," Ollivander said as he studied the phoenix wand. "It is in good shape, as I would expect from you… Mr. Peverell."

He returned that wand to Harry and studied the second wand.

Almost instantly, Olivander gasped in shock.

"This wand… I have never seen anything like it. I was asked me about this wand twice, but I was not certain it was anymore than a fable until you showed it to me. The Deathstick is real after all, and I am holding it."

He reluctantly returned it to Harry, clearly wishing that he could have studied it further.

"For certain reasons, I am in need of something from you, and I cannot have you speak of this meeting or my request," Harry said after a moment of silence.

"I am sure you have your reasons for choosing to remain dead," Ollivander said, unconcerned. "I will not speak of this to anyone. However, I cannot sell you another wand. There are restrictions on buying additional wands."

"I do not want a wand, Mr. Ollivander," Harry said, leaning forward. "I want a staff."

Those words seemed to shock Ollivander more than anything else could.

"I have studied wandlore all of my life. I have never even attempted to create a staff. It could be as different from making a wand as day is to night," Ollivander stated.

"From what I understand, a staff can focus more magic than a wand can," Harry pointed out. "I need something that can produce acts of magic similar to the Elder Wand but without being able to be snapped so easily."

"I see," Ollivander said, growing deep in though. "As far as I know, a true magic staff has not been crafted in England in the last five hundred years. Perhaps I could apply what I know of wandcrafting to staffcrafting. However, it is unlikely to only take a single attempt."

"What do you need to do this for me?" Harry asked, feeling a little relieved. Ollivander's answer was better than he had expected.

"I will not accept any payment for this. For saving me and ending the war, I will always be in your debt. If this helps you, then I will gladly do it," Ollivander answered. "But if you are asking how I will make it, the answer is more complicated. A staff would have to use at least two different cores due to its size, and I am not certain what kind of material would be best suited to crafting the shaft of the staff."

"I will leave you to it then," Harry said, reaching into this cloak. He knew better than to argue about Ollivander not accepting payment for the staff. Old men had a tendency to be stubborn. "But just in case, take these. Maybe they will help."

"I would recognize this anywhere," Ollivander said, taking the feather that Harry was holding. It looked exactly like the feather used in the wands that he gave to Tom Riddle and Harry Potter. "And that is a vial of phoenix tears?"

"Correct," Harry said, handing the vial over. "Thank you for your assistance. I'll be at Grimmauld Place if you need me."

Ollivander looked too deep in thought to notice Harry leave the shop.

* * *

After leaving Ollivander's, Harry decided to visit a certain shop that he had not been to in too long. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Not very busy on Saturday, are you?" Harry asked when he entered the shop, only to see that George Weasley was the only one inside. He cast a wordless Muffliato on the door as he approached the counter.

"It's usually a slow day," George agreed, nodding his head. Seeing him reminded Harry how much Fred's death had changed him.

"Out of curiosity, did Bagman ever pay you back," Harry asked casually.

It did not take long for the reaction to be seen on George's face.

"How do you know about that?" The question came out quietly but serious enough that it would have made most people nervous.

"I'm not likely to forget that, now am I?" Harry asked as he lowered his hood. "I did give you the Triwizard winnings on the train, after all."

"Harry?" George whispered, completely shocked by his sudden appearance.

"It's been too long," Harry said, removing the Marauders' Map from his cloak and placing it on the counter.

"What happened to you? We thought you were dead," George asked, his voice almost too quiet to be heard.

"I'd rather not advertise how I survived falling through the Veil, but I will say that I ended up in another dimension," Harry began. From there, he told George about what had led him from escaping all the way up to visiting Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. He made sure to speak vaguely of Clark, J'onn, and aliens in general, but he did not need to say anything of that to get the message across.

"I wish you were here to stay, but I think I can understand," George said, letting out a soft sigh. "I'll keep this a secret, but you better start writing occasionally, even if you have to get Andromeda to pass them to me. Also, you accept your share of the profits. You were our chief investor, so it's only right that you start getting your share of the profits. After we opened the shop, we decided that you'd get a third of the shop. You disappeared before I could tell you though."

Honestly, Harry could not bring himself to complain. He had no plans to get a job in Metropolis, so an extra source of income could be useful. "Okay, I accept. However, I want to get some stuff from the shop. Just deduct the cost of whatever I get from my share."

"You have seven and a half years worth. Whatever you get isn't going to take away that much," George pointed out.

So with that, Harry gathered up Bruise Removal Paste, Extendable Ears, Swamp in a Box, Sunny Spells, Wasley's Snowstorm, Weasley's Wet Weather, Weather in a Bottle, Decoy Detonators, Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, Shield Rings, and a variety of quills.

Most of the items he bought had been available the last time he was there, but they had all been improved according to George. For example, the Extendable Ears were now what muggles would call _wireless_. The Shield Rings were a fairly interesting object in his opinion. They were actually new, having been based off of Shield Hats, Shield Cloaks, and Shield Gloves. They produced a Shield Charm using the enchantments placed upon them. One model automatically formed the shield anytime foreign magic neared the wearer, and another model had to be activated by the wearer's magic.

It was interesting to note that the first model could actually be used by squibs and muggles.

In the end, Harry left the shop with enough products to take out about three months of the profits he was owed. The business that he was a part owner to was actually very successful, it seemed.

Before Harry left, the pair had made plans to get together again before he returned to Metropolis again.

* * *

When Monday rolled around, Harry returned to Ollivander's shop at the wandcrafter's request.

As soon as he got inside the shop, Ollivander strode past him, locked the door, put up a sign saying that the shop was closed, and returned to the counter. Atop it was a white sheet that was clearly covering a staff.

"It is simple in design, but I believe that it is exactly what you wanted," Ollivander said as he gripped the sheet. With a single motion, he pulled the sheet away, revealing a staff different from what Harry had expected.

The staff was black in color. It was the darkest shade of wood that he had ever seen. The shaft was straight as an arrow and relatively plain. However, a silver cap had been placed on each end of the staff. Runes could be seen going around the sides of the caps. The flat side of each cap was completely unmarked.

Harry grabbed the staff and held it in his hands. It was heavier than he had expected, but it was not too bad at the same time.

"Six feet long, made of ebony that was treated with phoenix tears, and contains a core of one phoenix feather," Ollivander said, surprising him. "Ebony is highly suited to all manner of combative magic, along with transfiguration. The perfect match of an ebony wand is one who will hold fast to his beliefs and is not easily swayed from his purpose. I assume that the same can be said of an ebony wand. The phoenix tears had a profound effect on the wood. It gave the wood natural healing properties and removed the need of multiple cores. Even if the staff was cut, it would repair itself over time due to these healing properties. The single phoenix feather within the staff already seems to owe its allegiance to you. It fits the wood perfectly due to it being treated with tears from the same phoenix that gave the feather. And the silver caps at each end of the staff are not for decoration. They protect the ends of the staff and magically strengthen the staff as a whole. You expressed interest in a powerful focus that could not be easily broken, so I present you with this."

"It's impressive," Harry said, grasping the staff in two hands. As he did so, he felt a rush of magic flow through him. It reminded him of when he used the Elder Wand, but it seems to be both more powerful and less focused.

"Be careful, Mr. Peverell," Ollivander warned. "That staff possesses greater power than either of us realize. Even without a vast knowledge of spells, the wielder of that staff possesses incredible power."

"I will be careful," Harry promised. "Thank you again for your help, but I need to return soon."

And with that, Harry apparated back to Grimmauld Place.

The sheer force of the apparition left every window in Ollivander's shop cracked.

* * *

"I can't believe you're leaving again already," Andromeda said, shaking her head.

It had not taken him long to get ready, fortunately. All that he planned on taking with him could fit on his person, after all.

But Andromeda had something else that she wanted to give him.

"I haven't had as much time as I hoped, but it was enough for me to finish you one." As she finished speaking, she canceled the Disillusionment charm on a box and handed it to him.

Curiously, he opened it, only to be surprised at what was inside.

A scarlet mask, a long sleeve black shirt with the Deathly Hallows emblem in scarlet on the front of it, a pair of scarlet gauntlets, a scarlet belt, a pair of black pants, a pair of scarlet boots, and a scarlet hooded cloak were placed neatly within the box. Just by sight, he could tell that the gauntlets, belt, and boots were made from the hide of a Chinese Fireball, while the rest of the clothes were made from acromantula silk.

"It's your decision if you want to wear it, but I thought you could use a little color," Andromeda said, looking away. "You may find that wearing at least one color other than black will change people's perception of you."

"Thank you," Harry said with a smile. It was a nice gesture. Plus, it would likely be more comfortable during summer than his all black ensemble would. As long as he used some Sleekeazy on his hair before he put on his costume, he could actually take off the cloak as well.

"Will we be seeing you for Christmas next month?" Andromeda asked after a moment of silence.

"Sure," Harry answered. "I'll just need to know what your plans are for. I may have told George, but I don't want the news that I'm still alive and kicking to get around."

"I'll let you know as soon as it is decided," Andromeda promised.

"In that case, I'll see you later."

With that, Fawkes flew over to him and took them both back to the warehouse with flame travel.

* * *

Upon arriving back at his warehouse, Harry saw that J'onn was actually sitting at the table and reading one of the history books that he had Andromeda buy.

"How's everything been over here?" Harry asked as he put his supplies on the table.

"It's good to see you," J'onn greeted. "Everything is as it should be. I do not know what method you had of obtaining information, but I read the minds of every criminal I took care of. Everything that I found out is written down on that stack of paper." As he spoke, he pointed to a nearby stack of paper that consisted of at least thirty pieces of paper.

"Maybe I need to start learning legilimency," Harry said as he flipped through the pages. It was a good amount of information and had more details than he would have expected. It seemed that his tactics no longer worked efficiently, so learning legilimency or making truth potions were his best choices.

"Since you've been gone, you've been known as _Emrys_ instead of the _Shadow of Metropolis_. It is interesting to see how a simple change in name attracts attention. You're all that they want to write about," J'onn remarked. "At the same time, the criminals of Metropolis seem more determined to deal with you. I should warn you that I had a few bullets fired at me when you were gone."

"I'm not too worried about it," Harry said, knowing full well that he could easily disarm someone with his telekinesis. It helped that Fawkes could heal him if he needed it.

"Just be careful out there," J'onn said, closing the book he was reading. "Though Kal-El now has Raya to teach him about Krypton and guide him, I must remain vigilant. They both share the same weakness."

That caught Harry's attention.

"Weakness?"

Clark had never mentioned a weakness before.

"You are trustworthy, so I will tell you," J'onn said as he rose to his feet. "When Krypton exploded, two meteor showers were sent to Earth. The first carried Kal-El, but it also carried radioactive pieces of Krypton. This _Kryptonite_ has adverse effects of Kryptonians. There are different variations of it, but all that you need to know is that he should be kept away from any glowing meteor rocks."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry promised. "But for now, I need to go and visit Clark. I need to talk to him about something else. Feel free to stay and read as much as you'd like in the meantime."

"Thank you. I find the history of your hidden world to be rather fascinating," J'onn said.

Nodding, Harry brought all of his new possessions down to his potion lab.

He quickly changed into his new costume, though he did so in a way that no one would realize who he was. His cloak, gauntlets, and mask were stored away inside an enchanted bag that was disillusioned at his left hip, his fake glasses were once again in place, and he had put a hoodie on, concealing his shirt. Both of his wands were once again hidden in the mokeskin pouch underneath his shirt, as was the Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone.

Once he was changed, he put away the pranking products that he had gotten from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes except for the Shield Rings that activated automatically and a bag of Peruvian Instant Darkness Power. He disillusioned the bag after attaching it to his belt at his right hip.

Once he was done, he headed back up to the warehouse's ground floor and apparated, deciding that it would not be wise to do so around anything that was breakable.

* * *

Harry appeared outside of the Kent farm with a crack.

Almost instantly, Clark and Raya appeared before him, using their super speed.

"How have you two been?" he asked, looking between them curiously.

"Fine," Clark said with a nod. "That's the loudest you've ever teleported. We had no idea it was you."

"Yeah… well, it appears that my staff isn't good at subtlety," Harry replied sheepishly. "And how have you been, Raya?"

"I have been well," she answered carefully. "Being free of the Phantom Zone and under the yellow sun is an experience unlike any other."

"Can you fly yet?" Harry asked with a slightly mischievous smile.

"Yes, I can, though I am still getting the hand of it," she replied, sparing a glance at Clark. "Kal-El appears to have something blocking him from being able to do it at all."

"It's probably his fear of heights, which is ironic since he can go skydiving without a parachute and walk away without any problem," Harry said, making Clark sigh out loud. "But I'm not really here to talk about that. Last Friday, I had a run in with the infamous Green Arrow. What do you know about him, Clark?"

Raya looked interested in the direction the conversation was going now.

"We've met," Clark said hesitantly. "He knows my secret, and I know his. That's all I can really say."

Raya looked like she wanted to chastise him letting his secret be discover that easily, but Harry spoke before she could do so.

"He invited me to join a little group that he's putting together. It sounds like it's just a team of vigilantes that will come together to handle things that can't be done by just one person. Should I trust him?"

"He can be trusted," Clark said with conviction.

"This could be a good idea," Raya remarked, appearing to be deep in thought. "Even with Kal-El's destiny, he cannot do everything. A team would be useful in situations where he needed help, or even to simply take some of the stress off of him. It may very well be the only way that Kal-El can begin his training without having to worry about the people of Metropolis as well."

"I will be meeting Green Arrow this Friday and accepting his offer then. But for now, I need to get my bearings back. I just returned from London again."

"You were seen in Metropolis every night since you first returned," Clark said, looking confused.

"I had someone fill in for me. I'm sure you'll meet J'onn before too long," Harry said, seeing recognition dawn in Raya's eyes. "Oh, and I almost forgot something…."

He removed five rings from his pocket as he spoke the last sentence.

"Take these. There is an enchantment upon each ring. It will protect the wearer from magic. How long it lasts will depend on the power of the spells that it blocks, but I would suggest that you each start to wear one just in case. Feel free to give the other three to your friends or keep them for yourselves. I remember you mentioning your previous encounters with magic, so it's clear that it can be used to hurt you."

Raya took all five rings and placed one on her right hand before offering one to Clark.

"Thank you for all the help you've given us, Harry," Raya said, exhaling a sigh of relief. "I was concerned when I found out who you were, but you've proven that you are a good man."

"I just do what I think is right," Harry said, shaking his head. "I need to head back now, but one of these days, I'm going to drop by just to hang out."

"That sounds good to me," Clark said as he put on one of the rings.

With that, Harry apparated back to Metropolis.

* * *

Author's Note: And there's the chapter I planned on getting out yesterday.

Next chapter will mark the first real appearance of Zatanna, along with Harry's meeting with Green Arrow.


	8. Zatanna Zatara

**7. Zatanna Zatara**

The next two days were easily the longest ones of his career as _Emrys_.

That came as a result of a combination of several factors.

Perhaps the greatest factor was usage of his staff.

Andromeda had actually provided him a book that had some information on staves. After reading through it, he had determined that his staff was not a _true staff_ after all. It had the overall shape of a quarterstaff, but it was really an oversized wand. While true staves were said to be capable of utilizing magic just like a wand was, they were not intended to work quite the same. A major aspect of staff magic came in the form of utilizing ley lines. As Ollivander was purely a wandcrafter, he had simply tried to make a very sturdy wand.

The biggest downside to the use of the _staff_ was that its size allowed it to take in a much larger flow of magic. The end result caused him to crush over a dozen guns when he tried to telekinetically disarm some people, accidentally send a criminal over a hundred feet in the air when he tried to lift him ten feet, and completely total a getaway car when he tried to hold it in place. Fortunately, he was starting to get the hang of using the staff, but it still left him feeling more tired than he should have been.

But that was not the only thing that had made the days feel so long. Originally, he had only gone after drug dealers, muggers, and other petty criminals because they were the only criminals he had information on.

Using the information that J'onn had given him, Harry had taken it upon himself to start going after the more dangerous criminals of Metropolis. Gangs, murderers, and rapists had quickly become his number one targets. In addition to that change, he had decided to start confiscating the firearms of every criminal that he dealt with and delivered them to the police station so that there would be fewer guns on the street.

Overall, Harry was glad that his patrol was over when he saw that it was three o'clock in the morning.

He began to make his way towards a nearby alleyway to apparate from. Honestly, he did not need to do it, but it was habit. His abilities were becoming more well known as he took on more dangerous criminals, but at times, he still felt as though he should avoid doing anything unexplainable.

Upon reaching the alleyway, he saw a figure standing in the shadows. Clad in dark robes with a black wand in its hand, the figure had Harry's full attention.

"Who are you?" he asked, tightening his grip on his staff.

Instead of a verbal answer, the figure pointed its wand at him and fired a silent stunner.

Harry actually knocked the stunner away with his staff, using his magic in coordination to the staff's swing to redirect the spell.

Immediately following that, the figure began to cast stunner after stunner at him. At least a hundred stunners were fired off in the next minute.

"Protego Maxima," Harry said, creating a powerful shield with his staff. It left him feeling drained, but it withstood the entire barrage of spells.

His eyes widened as he saw the figure begin to cast a different spell.

Green light burst from the tip of the wand. Only one spell had that exact color, and Harry was intimately familiar with that spell. Avada Kedavra. The Killing Curse.

Yet, it was a spell that could not be cast non-verbally.

"Kcor esir dna dleihs mih!"

Suddenly, the concrete before him suddenly rose up in front of him, completely protecting his entire body.

The Killing Curse damaged part of the shield of concrete, but it was thwarted.

Stepping out of cover, Harry watched as the robed figure faded into shadows.

Turning around when it was gone, he saw the only other source of magic in the area.

There was a woman with onyx black hair and bluish gray eyes. Wearing a black leather jacket, a dark red shirt, and a pair of dark jeans, she did not look anything like he would have expected a magic user to look, but he could tell that she was strong.

"So you must be _Emrys_," she said as she approached him.

"I am," he confirmed, keeping a tight grip on his staff. "Do I have you to thank for the assistance?"

"It would seem so," she said, looking at the rock shield. "Nruter ot lamron."

He saw that it seemed to leave her a little winded, but those words had completely returned the raised slab of concrete back to normal.

"You're not like any witch I've ever seen," Harry remarked.

"I would hope not," she said, actually looking amused. "I'm not a witch."

"Then what are you?" Harry asked, his attention firmly on the young woman.

"Perhaps that is a conversation best served for somewhere private," she suggested. "Do you know of such a place?"

His first thought was of his warehouse, but the last thing he needed to do was to reveal the existence of it to a woman that he had just met, even if she was rather attractive. His apartment had the same issue, really.

A thought did come to him after a moment though.

"Take my hand," he said.

Without an ounce of nervousness, she took his hand.

The pair apparated away a moment later.

* * *

The pair appeared atop the Daily Planet's roof almost instantly.

The woman actually looked a little sick from the apparition, which surprised Harry. She looked to be a few years younger than he really was, so he had figured that she had experience with apparition.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fire," she answered as she rose to her feet. "I just never realize that apparition was that bad. Teleportation is so much smoother."

"If you aren't a witch, what are you?" Harry asked, taking in what she said.

"I am Zatanna Zatara, the Mistress of Magic. That's my stage name, at least. I perform simple parlor tricks for an audience, but that's not what you want to know about. I guess to tell you the answer to that, I have to ask what you know about the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy."

"It came about around the same time as the Salem Witch Trials and separated the wizarding and muggle worlds," Harry answered uncomfortably. History was not a subject that he was good with.

"That is mostly true," she agreed. "What isn't widely known is that the separation of the two worlds was strongly opposed by a number of different people. When the law was passed, quite a few people were exiled. Some stories say that were exiled while others say they entered self-exile. What is known, however, is that at least thirty percent of the wizarding world did not stick around after the law passed. The first generation after the bill was passed were unable to get a wand without returning to the wizarding world, so they adapted. Wandless magic that can only very rarely be used non-verbally… that was their solution. They called themselves sorcerers and magicians at first, but then they took on the name of Homo Magi. From my father, I inherited the powers of one. Unfortunately, he only taught me some parlor tricks. I figured out a little more on my own, but I am not exactly the pinnacle of Homo Magi."

"I never heard anything like that," Harry said, still shocked by what she had told him.

"My mother said that same, or so my father claimed before he died," Zatanna stated. "My mother attended the Salem Witches' Institute and used a wand for her spells, but she died in childbirth, so I only have secondhand knowledge on that subject."

"So a magician on one side and a witch on the other?" Harry asked, shaking his head. "That's actually pretty neat."

"I suppose so," she said, looking out at Metropolis. "But now that I've answered your question, I would like you to answer a question of mine. You wear the symbol of the Deathly Hallows. Do you have the Resurrection Stone?"

Harry tried to hide his surprise at the question, but it was too late to escape her notice. "You don't want the Resurrection Stone. Its power is not what most people believe. It can summon forth the spirits of the dead for the holder of the stone, but it cannot be used to resurrect the dead. If you are hoping to speak to the dead, you are out of luck as well. The only way that the Resurrection Stone would work for you is if I were to die. And then, you would find that no one could remove it from where it was last placed."

She looked surprised to hear that. "I don't want you dead. I had just hoped to be able to use the stone to bring back my father."

"The dead should stay dead," Harry stated as he rose to his feet. "Only the darkest forms of magic can bring back the dead. Before you try to actually bring your father back, you should ask yourself one question. Would you father want you to die or have your soul permanently damaged just so that he could have another chance?"

That seemed to stop her in her tracks. The question had apparently never crossed her mind before.

"When I was one, my parents were murdered by a dark wizard. When I was fifteen, my godfather was killed by a follower of that same man. When I was sixteen, my mentor died by the hand of another follower. I cannot even begin to list everyone I cared about that died when I was seventeen. If anyone understands death and how much it hurts, it's me," Harry said, shaking his head. "Do not let yourself get caught up in trying to bring back the dead. Obsessing over death never helps."

It appeared as though his words struck a chord in her.

"You did step in and saved me from the Killing Curse though," Harry said after a moment of silence. He saw no point in mentioning that he had survived that spell twice before. "If there is something else that you want and I can grant it, just ask me and I'll try to help."

"Well, there is one other thing that I want," Zatanna said, stepping towards him. "As I said before, my father only taught me parlor tricks. While your magic is different than my own, they share the same basis. The theory should remain the same regardless of how we use our magic. Will you teach me what you know?"

The question was the last thing Harry had expected to hear, but he could not find it in him to outright refuse her. She had potentially saved his life, after all.

"I will help you as much as I can. Unfortunately, I only had six years of schooling and left school in June of ninety-seven, so I won't be able to teach you as much as you'd probably like."

"I will accept that," Zatanna said. "When can you help me?"

"I'm unemployed and only go out patrolling at night, so I can help you any day you want me to," Harry answered. "But you are in charge of finding a place for me to teach you what I know. Until I can know if you are trustworthy, I will not show you my place or my base."

"That is understandable," Zatanna agreed. "In that case, meet me at my hotel room at one o'clock. I may have to get an apartment if you are going to be teaching me much, but I had no idea if you would even agree."

As she spoke, she handed him a card with the name of her hotel and her room number on it.

"I'll be there," he promised.

With that, the pair went their separate ways.

* * *

Helping Zatanna out was not as bad as it could have been. She was very intelligent, understanding theory almost as fast as Hermione had. She never once tried to discover who he was either.

Her magic was actually something that interested Harry immensely. She could perform telekinesis and teleportation without words, but just about any other acts of magic required her to speak her wishes backwards, though the words still had to be in the right order.

Harry had found that her wandless magic was more powerful than his own, even if it was easy to silence her and remove her ability to cast her spells. Even without her ability to speak, her telekinesis stopped her from actually becoming helpless upon being silenced.

They still had much to go over, of course. He had gone over the first four years of theory that he had learned in Charms and Transfiguration, along with everything that he had learned in his third and fourth years of Defense Against the Dark Arts.

In the end, he still had much more he could teach her, especially if she was interested in Potions and Occlumency. To pass the time in the Phantom Zone, he had learned a great deal about both using the Resurrection Stone. Recalling Severus Snape with it was a concept that would have shocked him at one time, but the man truly was a hero in the end.

In all honesty, he had accepted her request because she was a very attractive woman, he had felt sorry for her, and she had most likely saved his life.

She only learned from Harry during the day though. She was set to have shows every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night as long as she was in town. What she did every other night was not his concern though. All that mattered was that she could not find his base, so he was able to continue his duties as Emrys.

Unfortunately, he was no closer to figuring out who had come after him the night he met Zatanna than he had been to start with. He had even contacted Andromeda, and she had been unable to find an answer as well.

So instead of worry about it, he just decided to be vigilant when doing his duties as Emrys.

This night was about more than just about his regular duties as Emrys though. It was Friday night, he had just finished his patrols, and he had a meeting scheduled with the Green Arrow.

Bringing himself to the alleyway where he had first met his fellow vigilante, Harry saw that he was not the first to arrive.

Green Arrow was not the only one there either. He was accompanied by a young man around Clark's age. What he wore could not even be considered a disguise. He wore an ensemble of red with yellow trim. His face was easily visible and appeared to be wearing street clothes with a hooded jacket.

"I see you've got an upgrade," Green Arrow remarked.

"And I see you've got a sidekick. What do you call him? Speedy?" Harry retorted, gripping his staff. The last thing he wanted was to be caught off guard.

"I'm going by _Impulse_, not _Speedy_," the young man said, shaking his head. He disappeared in a blur and reappeared on the other side of Green Arrow.

"Impulse was the first member to join the team," Green Arrow said, shaking his head. "But seriously, that's a better costume. The cloak is a little old fashioned though."

"Emrys is an old fashioned name," Harry replied, gripping his staff in both hands. "Before I give you my answer, I want to see what you can do, Arrow," With that, he dropped into an offensive stance.

"Gladly," Green Arrow said, grabbing his bow and holding it in a ready position. "Impulse, stay out of this."

With that, the two vigilantes sprung into action, meeting staff and bow in melee combat. It was quickly clear that the Green Arrow had the advantage in skill. His form was perfect and his moves graceful. Harry had the advantage in experience, on the other hand. His form was rough and his moves came in sudden bursts of speed.

The short fight that took place could have almost been described as a dance, but it soon became easy to see that Harry's staff only struck the Green Arrow once, while his bow ended up striking Harry over a dozen times.

Magic would have ended the short match much sooner, but Harry had opted against using it unless his life was in danger.

After about two and a half minutes, Harry fell to the ground and the Green Arrow was breathing heavily.

Slowly, Harry rose to his feet and tossed his staff to his left hand. Offering his right hand to the leather-clad archer, he said, "As long as this group does what you said it would, I'll join. But if you decide that you'd rather switch sides, you'll find out how dangerous I can be."

"Welcome to the group then," Green Arrow said, shaking his hand. "I'll need a way to get in touch with you. I won't need your help until late December or early January unless something comes up."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that," Harry said as he withdrew his hand. A wandless tracking charm would ensure that he could find the Green Arrow at any time that he needed to do so.

"In that case, I believe we are done here," Green Arrow said, turning his back to Harry. "I look forward to working with you."

"I do too," Harry replied, turning his back to his fellow vigilante.

With that, he apparated away. If the Green Arrow had not known he could teleport before that night, he definitely did after Harry disapparated in front of him, so the cat was already out of the bag.

* * *

An hour later, Oliver was putting his gear away in his office when he heard a voice.

"I never would have imagined that you were the Green Arrow."

Spinning around, he saw Harry sitting on his desk in his Emrys costume. However, his scar was no longer covered by a glamour, his mask had been removed, and his accent was no longer being hidden.

"How did you find me? I know I wasn't followed," Oliver asked warily.

"I used magic to track you here. If I'm going to be working with you, it helps to know who you really are," Harry replied as he pulled out his glasses and put them on. "You can call me Harry. I'd tell you my full name, but it's a mouthful. My parents were a little traditional."

"So magic is real after all," Oliver said, walking towards him. "I suspected as much, but it's nice to know. So now what? How are you going to use this knowledge?"

"I am going to keep silent about it. It'll be easier for you to contact me if you can just drop of a message at my apartment though," Harry said, reaching into his pocket and removing a slip of paper. He handed it to Oliver. "We both know Clark's secret, and he knows both of ours. I'd like for us to be able to work together without having to worry about secrets."

Oliver nodded his head in understanding. "It doesn't hurt anything, at least. You would have found out who I am when we all came together anyway. But now I'm curious. How do you know Clark?"

"We met the day after Black Thursday. Let's leave it at that," Harry said.

"Fair enough," Oliver agreed.

"And now, I must take my leave," Harry said, gripping his staff.

And with that, he disappeared in a crack.

* * *

Author's Note: And there is Zatanna's first appearance outside of the small appearance a few chapters back. I hope that the resolution with her wanting to bring back her father was dealt with appropriately, but I think speaking to someone she sees as a more experienced magic user (and someone who has at least one of the Deathly Hallows) could do quite a bit for changing her mind, especially when it is someone that speaks with such conviction in his eyes.

Harry and Zatanna's character interactions won't be a major focus until their relationship moves on from simply being tutor and student. It won't be long before that changes though.

I hope everyone liked the way I explained the difference between Wizardkind and Homo Magi. I thought it was the best way to explain the differences between the magic and society of people like Harry and Zatanna.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	9. Partner

**8. Partner**

Since he had begun teaching Zatanna, Harry had found that he was busier than ever.

It seemed like the only time that he had been free was during Thanksgiving Day. Clark had actually invited him to come over and spend the day with them, but he had turned it down. It was not a holiday that meant anything to him, and he needed to just relax for once. Knowing that Lionel Luthor, Oliver Queen, and two of Clark's friends would be present had helped him make the decision. From what he and J'onn had discovered, Lionel had a history that was hard to ignore. According to J'onn, he could be trusted to help Clark, but that did not mean that Harry trusted the man at all.

As busy as he was, Harry could not deny that things had gone well.

He had managed to teach her every bit of theory that he had learned in Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts during his time at Hogwarts. He had also touched upon the theory behind what he had taught _Dumbledore's Army_.

Potions, Herbology, and the Mind Arts were someone that he had chosen not to bother with yet, seeing as how the theory behind potions and herbology were not really useful without the practical knowledge, and the Mind Arts were not one of his best subjects.

It was now the Monday following Thanksgiving, and Harry had just arrived at Zatanna's apartment, still clad in his Emrys costume.

"Is something wrong?" Zatanna asked, seeing that he was deep in thought.

"We need to talk about something," he replied, wandlessly using Muffliato on the door as he always did. "Zatanna, you stepped in to save me less than two weeks ago. Maybe I would have survived, but the intent is what matters in the end. In return for your help, I helped you learn more about magic than I'd care to name."

"Are you done teaching me?" Zatanna asked, sounding a little concerned.

"I think so," Harry replied. "To be honest, I don't think there is anymore that I can teach you here. It doesn't really take that long to go over theory, and anything else I could teach you could only be taught at my base."

Zatanna seemed to consider that for a moment before she spoke. "Hypothetically, what could you teach me if you could take me to your base?"

The question surprised Harry, but he recovered quickly. "Herbology and Potions are things I could only teach you there, but I also have enough books on magic that you would be able to learn things on your own."

"And to go to your base, I'd need to know your secret identity?" Zatanna asked for clarification.

"Yes, you would," Harry answered, unsure as to what she was getting at.

"So to find out your identity and be able to come to your base, I'd probably need to be your partner… partner as a vigilante, I mean."

That was not a topic that he had ever imagined her bringing up.

"Of course, I don't want to be your sidekick, or anything like that, so something would have to change. To be partners, we couldn't be teacher and student or mentor and pupil. We would need to have something of a give and take relationship," Zatanna continued with bold determination in her eyes. "You teach me a little about potions and herbology and let me use your library, and you'll have someone to watch your back. We both gain something."

Harry thought about it for a moment before he shook his head. "You make it sound too much like a business relationship." She looked dejected for a moment, thinking that he had refused completely. "I did not say no. To be honest, having a partner sounds nice, but I don't want it to be just business. I'd much rather have a friend watch my back than someone who sees it as business. You watch my back, and I'll watch your back. And to be honest, I don't have a problem with letting a friend look through my books or learn a few things from me. Friends do that kind of thing."

With a smile, she said, "Agreed."

Nodding, Harry offered his hand to her.

She reached out and took it without a hint of worry.

Upon contact, she experienced apparition for the second time.

* * *

Upon arriving at the warehouse, she collapsed, falling on her hands and knees once again. Apparition was difficult for some people, as he often forgot.

"Welcome to headquarters," Harry said, casting a look around the room. The only new additions to the place were a few wooden posts along the wall to his left and a sofa against the wall to his right. "You are one of only three people who have been inside this place."

"You have a library," she said as she recovered and looked around the room. "There must be around a thousand books here, and could this be your flying motorcycle?"

"It was enchanted by my godfather when he owned it, but yeah, it is," Harry answered. "But I guess I should do something else before I really show you around."

He released the glamour spell, canceled the voice alteration spell, lowered his hood, and removed his mask, allowing her to see him for the first time.

"I normally wear a pair of glasses in public, but this is what I really look and sound like," he said. "You can call me Harry."

She looked surprised to see exactly what he looked and sounded like, but she did not give much of a reaction to that. She instead asked, "But what is your last name?"

"If I gave you the name that this warehouse belongs to and my apartment is being rented by, you'd only be able to figure out that I didn't exist until over a week after Dark Thursday. And if I gave you my real name, you'd find that I went missing seven and a half years ago. But if you just want a last name to use, feel free to go with Peverell," Harry replied.

"And what if I simply want to know your real name?" she countered.

"Harry James Potter," he answered after a moment of silence. "But I haven't used that name in a while."

"I'll just call you Harry then," Zatanna said with a smile. "It suits you."

"As does yours, Mistress of Magic," Harry replied, teasingly calling her by her stage title.

She rolled her eyes, though the smile never wavered until she began to speak again. "I have to ask you something though. A major part of our agreement was for me to become a vigilante, but when do I need to start?"

"You did agree to that, but the _when_ never came up. Honestly, I'd be fine as long as you started by the first of the year. Before you can even start, you need to get a costume and figure out what name you want to be called. The _Shadow of Metropolis _was not a name I liked, after all. But once you're ready, you can start coming with me on my patrols through Suicide Slums. It seems like no matter what, I just can't completely clean up the place. But let's worry about that later. For now, let me show you around."

He showed her how the library was organized at that point, revealing that they were not sorted by any standardized method but instead by subject matter and difficulty level.

Once he was done there, he led her down to the lab.

"As you can see, one of the cauldrons is occupied, but the other is empty and free to use," Harry said once they were down there. "The potion that is brewing in the cauldron is called Polyjuice Potion. If I took a single one of your hairs and placed it in a vial of that potion, it would cause me to turn into you for one hour. It's only intended for pure humans though, and it shouldn't be used to transform into anything but someone just like you."

It was a little vague, but he would explain more in detail later. He did wonder if J'onn, Clark, or Raya could use it though.

"In the cupboards over there, I have potion ingredients," he said, pointing to the eastern wall. He then pointed to the southern wall. "The cabinet over there contains a device called a _pensieve_. I can put memories into it and relive them vividly. Don't mess with it without asking me." And then he pointed to the western wall. "And those cabinets are where I store completed potions."

Opening one of the cabinets, he withdrew a bottle from a collection of twenty or so.

"This is Blood-Replenishing Potion. It works almost instantly and can restore several pints of blood, though it's a bad idea to use one unless your wounds have been closed."

He replaced it and removed a bottle from the next shelf. There were at least nineteen more.

"This is a Calming Draught. It deals with shock, trauma, and hysteria pretty well."

After putting the Calming Draught back, he pointed at two different collections of vials.

"These are Essence of Dittany and Murtlap Essence. Essence of Dittany makes a new layer of skin grow over the area where it's treated, and Murtlap Essence soothes and heals cuts and abrasions."

He went on to show her the self-explanatory Forgetful Potion, the energy boosting Invigoration Potion, the cold-curing Pepper-Up Potion, the magic canceling Restoration Potion, and the obvious Sleeping Drought.

One caught her attention the most was the final potion he showed her.

"This is called the Strength Potion. On a normal person, it increases their strength by around four times, though it usually only lasts a few hours. A master at the craft can make one that lasts a full day and increases the user's strength by at least five times, but I'm no master."

"With that level of strength, I imagine that there isn't much you couldn't do," Zatanna remarked.

"I'd love to find a potion that gave you super speed, supernatural durability, or the ability to fly, but I haven't been able to find anything that is worth the effort," Harry explained, shaking his head. "Now that you have seen the place, what do you want to do first? You can start learning potions, go back up to the library, or I could teach you how to fly my broom."

"I'll have to take a rain check on the flying lesson," Zatanna said, though she sounded disappointed to have to say the words. "I think I'd like to just read a little today."

"In that case, I'll go up there with you and begin working on my staff skills," Harry said.

The pair headed up the stairs at that point.

* * *

While Harry began to practice different forms and attack that he had learned from a muggle book on fighting with a staff, Zatanna was reading one of the history books that Harry had kept in the library.

She was curious what happened in the wand carrier's world after the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy had been passed, but that was only part of why she had decided to read up on history.

She remembered what Harry had said about his parents, godfather, and mentor dying because of a dark wizard, and she wanted to know what really happened. But she was not about to go to the most part of history. She instead started right after the separation of wizard and mundane worlds. She chose not to even think _muggle_, for it just sounded offensive.

She had no expectations of learning everything that she wanted to in a single day, but she could at least start.

* * *

Perhaps it was not wise to allow Zatanna to stay in the warehouse while he went out on a patrol, but if he could not trust her to stay there unsupervised, then he couldn't exactly trust her to watch his back. Besides, he felt that he knew her after teaching her for nearly the last two weeks, and they were supposed to try to become friends.

He had been able to let go of any such worries as the night went as planned.

It was only after he was getting ready to return to his warehouse that something unplanned happened.

He saw someone flying towards him in a blur.

A dome-shaped barrier formed around him the moment that he saw the figure. It was a modified Shield Charm that should have been strong enough to at least slow down anyone that tried to break through. It was still in the testing phases though, so he was not sure.

When the figure landed, he dropped the barrier. It was Raya.

"Is Kal-El okay?" Harry asked with a hint of concern. They were atop a building in Suicide Slums, but it would not have been wise to use Clark's human name where someone could potentially hear him.

"I assume that Kal-El is just fine. I left to look into other matters. J'onn said that he would be keeping a close eye on him in the meantime," Raya said calmly. "Kal-El spoke of a man that intercepted transmissions from Krypton. He died last year, but he was survived by a daughter. I wished to see what exactly he had discovered."

"And what did you find?" Harry asked, keeping his voice quiet.

"More than I imagined," Raya replied vaguely. "Exactly what I found out is a matter that can be discussed at another time. That is not why I have come to you. I was invited to work for S.T.A.R. Labs while I was investigating. It was set up for the express purpose of aiding Kal-El, and J'onn has given me his assurance that he has looked into it. However, I had to decline the offer for now. Though the Fortress has been restored using Jor-El's crystal, I believe that Kal-El still needs my assistance. I have determined that his main issue is that he does not understand what it means to be Kryptonian. Until the escaped phantoms are dealt with and he has fully embraced his Kryptonian side, he cannot complete Jor-El's training."

Harry nodded in understanding. Fear of the unknown was usually a problem, after all.

"But I did not come here to tell you that I was offered a job and had to decline. The real reason I am here is to give you this," she said, removing a file from her jacket. "J'onn appears to have connections there and asked them to give you a copy of everything they have on a certain subject."

Taking the file, he opened it and was surprised to see a picture of him at the top of a stack of documents. It was not a picture of Harry Potter or Harry Peverell. It was a picture of Emrys.

"It appears that S.T.A.R. Labs decided to keep an eye out for vigilantes. I did not look through the file, but the current owner of the organization informed me that it was important to keep an eye out for anyone that may be able to help Kal-El," Raya said.

"I'll look over them later," Harry said, shutting the file. It was surprising that they had obtained any information on him at all, but he had seen that there was no indication that they were aware of his true identity.

"I must let Kal-El know that I am back then," Raya stated, turning her back to Harry. "Be careful and try to come by once in a while. Kal-El trusts you and considers you a friend."

Harry nodded his head before he apparated back to the warehouse. He agreed with her completely, but that did not mean that it was easy to find time to visit.

* * *

Upon arriving at his warehouse, he saw that Zatanna had left and everything was put up correctly, but those were just passing thoughts.

Moving over to the table, he put the file down and began to go through it.

The only things it had on him were a picture of him in his original suit, that his base of operations was in Suicide Slums, how long he had been operating as a vigilante, and a list of his known abilities. Telekinesis and teleportation were the only two abilities that were listed as confirmed. Magic was listed as a suspected ability, however.

The next page was on someone called _the Green Lantern_ and operated out of Coast City, California. His ring-based abilities were described in surprising detail. It appeared that he had only started his career after Dark Thursday but before Harry came to Metropolis.

Flipping through the file, he saw that he was definitely not the first super-powered vigilante. There were six documents on recent vigilantes, and only two of them lacked known powers. But the rest of the file was what really interested him. It was far more in-depth and had the identities of every individual listed. According to the cover page for that group of vigilantes, they were once known as the _Justice Society of America_.

He closed the file as it became difficult to keep his eyes open. He could always read the file the next day. But for now, he needed to find a safe place for it. The last thing he wanted was for Zatanna to stumble upon it until after he had been able to go over it completely.

* * *

Atop the roof of the Daily Planet, a woman in her mid-twenties with dirty blonde hair and silvery blue eyes was dangling her bare feet off the ledge.

"You've been busy," she said with a fond smile as she read the latest issue of the Daily Planet. _Emrys _seemed to show up in just about every issue, even if he was not always on the front page. Some people liked to say that he was no hero because he took the law into his own hands, but the fact remained that he had never dealt with criminals outside of Suicide Slums. The rampant crime of that part of the city made it dangerous for the police to do their job there, so the fact that they did not have to risk their lives to get the criminals that operated in Suicide Slums actually outweighed every negative thing that could be said about him.

"What did Hermione call it, again? Oh right… his 'saving people' thing," she thought aloud, fondly remember her friend as he was before his disappearance. She wondered what the magic world would do when they finally found out about _Emrys_. The magical government of the United States, or the Department of Magical Affairs, would be enough to prevent any foreign government from trying to stop him, but she did not doubt that some people would try to get rid of him to prevent people from asking if there was anyone else in the world like him. That was not something she could allow. That was why she had convinced her father to ignore events in the muggle world completely. The longer people went by without knowing, the better chances that they realize that they could not pull off _damage control_.

Shaking her head, she stopped that train of thought. It did not really matter when the truth was discovered or what was done. In the end, everything would be fine. The Nargles would see to that.

But for now, she needed to look around Metropolis and figure out the best way to approach her old friend.

With that, Luna Lovegood hopped off of the ledge and shifted her form into that of a raven before flying off.

* * *

Author's Note: And there's another chapter down. This was kind of a major chapter, even if it didn't have any conflict.

If there are any mess ups in this chapter, feel free to tell me. Originally, Harry offered Zatanna the chance to be his partner instead of her suggesting it, but it sounded too forced to me. Even so, I may have missed an instance that doesn't make sense if Zatanna was the one to suggest it.

This chapter marks Luna's arrival into this story as a central character. Like Zatanna, she had kind of a cameo scene earlier on.

I wouldn't be surprised if S.T.A.R. Labs being mentioned so early was a surprise to most people either. In case you missed it, Raya found out that Swann received messages from Krypton and that he knew who Clark really was. She went to investigate it and instead met Patricia Swann. Raya altered fate through that meeting. I'm sure you can imagine what she may have found out.

Now, I know that S.T.A.R. Labs was never mentioned as having a list of vigilantes, but with their purpose, I could see them gathering information on heroes and villains even before Clark became Superman. That said, neither J'onn nor Raya looked through the file that Harry was given this chapter.

And while I'm on the subject of the list, I'll go ahead and save everyone the time of asking the questions. The file contained what little is known about Emrys (Harry Potter), Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow (Oliver Queen), the Angel of Vengeance (Andrea Rojas), Batman (Bruce Wayne), and Wonder Woman (Diana Prince). Their secret identities are all still unknown. Cyborg, Impulse, and Aquaman weren't listed because they haven't really stepped out of the shadows at all. There are other vigilantes/heroes that are in a similar state. They are just simply unknown. Batman is considered an urban myth in Gotham (like he was according to Season 11), but that isn't the same thing as being unknown. The rest of the file is all about the Justice Society of America that was revealed in Season 9 of Smallville. Checkmate was responsible for ending the organization, though the details on that are not all in the file.

Also, I'd like to point something out just in case anyone forgot about it. Harry was in the Phantom Zone for nearly seven and a half years. He may be 19 physically, but Luna, George, Hermione, Ron, and every other Harry Potter character is eight years older than they were when Voldemort died.

I hope that answers all the questions you have. If not, feel free to ask.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	10. Reunion

**9. Reunion**

Those who fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors are destined to repeat them.

Harry was not sure how many times he had heard that line, but it definitely did not make it any less true.

The Justice Society of America was a group of heroes that was formed in the seventies. With Hawkman and Hawkgirl at its head, the JSA had become a large yet effective group of heroes. With Doctor Fate, the Star-Spangled Kid, the Sandman, the Atom, Spectre, Hourman, Doctor Mid-Nite, Black Canary, Mister Terrific, the Green Lantern, the Flash, Wildcat, and Red Tornado behind them, they had done great things.

According to the file from S.T.A.R. Labs, Hawkgirl's death had caused Hawkman to lose it. He had become more ruthless, even going so far as to attack his wife's killer and leave him in a catatonic state.

Shortly following the incident, the JSA's secret identities were discovered one by one. They were all arrested for bogus crimes, only to be released due to a lack of evidence. Even so, it spelled the end of the group.

Given that the team Oliver was putting together sounded like the first step to becoming a new version of the JSA, Harry found himself wondering what S.T.A.R. Labs did not know about the situation. Fortunately, the JSA's headquarters was in Metropolis, so he could pay the place a visit for answers later.

But what really interested Harry was a certain member of the JSA.

The Green Lantern.

He had wondered how S.T.A.R. Labs knew so much about him, but it was obvious after realizing that he was not the first Green Lantern. The one that joined the JSA was named Alan Scott, but he looked nothing like the new Green Lantern. So it was clear that it was a mantle that could be passed on.

That was not the only thing that he found interesting though.

Jay Garrick, or the Flash, had powers that sounded exactly what he had seen Impulse do when they met.

But that could wait until later. For now, he needed to deal with Zatanna.

Once the file was put back in its hiding place, he heard a knock at the door.

Curious, he walked to the door and answered it. He did not have to worry about someone having a gun at the door thanks to his wandless magic.

When the door was open, he could not hide the look of shock on his face.

Standing on the other side of the door was Luna Lovegood.

He almost did not recognize her, and it was not even because she was wearing muggle clothes. She had turned eighteen almost a month and a half before he had disappeared. Now, she had to be twenty-five years old, even if she did look a few years younger than that. Witches did age well.

"I was wondering when you'd show up," Harry said once he recovered, a slight smile forming. He had always thought that she would follow the clues and seek him out, but he had not been sure when she would actually manage to do it.

"I was searching for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack for the final time," Luna remarked off-handedly. "Real or not, it isn't something that can be found."

He smiled, seeing that although she had grown more serious over time, her voice never lost its dreamy quality.

"Come on in," he said, stepping to the side. As soon as she was inside, he shut the door and turned to face her. "I hear that you found evidence that nargles really do exist."

"Oh yes, but they are sneaky and can only be seen with the right ocular aid," she confirmed, giving an enthusiastic nod. "But you don't want to ask me about nargles, do you?"

He could stop a chuckle from escaping his lips. Luna had not been one of his closest friends originally, but it always seemed that she was the one that understood him the best. It was actually what led to them dating after Voldemort's defeat. In the end, it had not lasted, but it had not hurt their friendship in the least. Luna was special like that.

"I assume that you've been keeping an eye on my activities recently?" Harry asked curiously.

Luna simply smiled. "I suspected that it was you when I saw your mark. But I did not know for sure until recently. I put together all of the clues. The descriptions of the flying motorcycle and broom fit with Sirius Black's motorcycle and your Firebolt, and everything you've done is just something I'd expect you to do. Using your abilities to help people… the only one that would do that and wear that mark was you."

"That's me," Harry agreed, smiling. "I take it that you easily found me once you knew I was here too."

"You told me that Ignotus Peverell passed on the Cloak of Invisibility to his son and it continued on until your father died and Professor Dumbledore gave it to you," Luna answered simply. "So how did you get out of the wasteland?"

Harry froze at that question. "How did you know about the Phantom Zone?"

"There is seer blood on my mother's side. I had a dream that you were in this wasteland where time stood still," Luna answered with a slight frown. "I never could find anything on it. Not even Daddy knew about such a place."

"It's an interdimensional prison that was built by a race of aliens called Kryptonians."

"Oh, I see," Luna replied, nodding sagely. "That explains it."

It took all his effort to stop laughter from escaping him. She had changed much, but he was glad to see that the old Luna was still there.

"How would you like to see my headquarters?" Harry asked suddenly. "I need to tell you about something, but it might be best to just use my pensieve."

"I'd like that," Luna replied with a smile. Without any prompting, she grabbed Harry by the arm and waited.

Not missing a beat, Harry focused and apparated back to the warehouse.

* * *

Upon arriving at the warehouse, Harry realized that he had completely forgotten that Zatanna had planned on visiting again.

"Zatanna, this is Luna Lovegood. She's an old friend of mine. Luna, this is Zatanna Zatara, a friend of mine," Harry said, introducing them. He felt a little bad for essentially sharing her secret, even if she had not even started acting as a vigilante yet.

"Nice to meet you," Luna greeted dreamily.

"Same here," Zatanna replied, still caught off guard.

"Zatanna, don't mind us. I just want to show Luna my memory of the incident that happened before we met. Neither one of us knew what it was about, but Luna might have an idea," Harry said, leading Luna towards the lab.

If he had not turned his back to her, he would have seen a hint of jealousy in Zatanna's eyes.

After getting down to the basement, Harry deposited his memory of the incident in his pensieve and let Luna view it while he began to put the finishing touches on his Polyjuice Potion. It would be done soon. After that, he could get started on Veritaserum.

After a minute or two, Luna emerged from the pensieve looking very alarmed.

"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"What you were attacked by is something called a _wraith_. It is like an inferius but uses the soul of the dead instead of the body. It was completely under the thrall of a witch or wizard. It is black magic. To be precise, it is necromancy. The Unforgivable Curses carry a life sentence in Azkaban, but summoning wraiths is punishable by the Veil. Whoever sent that wraith after you was not trying to kill you though. It looked more like they were testing you."

"A necromancer… I imagine that they were trying to find out if I have the Deathly Hallows," Harry said with a grimace. Maybe it was a mistake to display their mark after all.

"It is surprising that your friend showed up when she did, but she feels untouched by dark magic. You've used two of the Unforgivable Curses and have experience with a few more dark curses than that, yet anyone behind the attack should appear as tainted as a member of the Inner Circle."

Harry let out a sigh of relief. He had worried that Zatanna was somehow connected, even if he had refused to believe it. Hearing Luna's opinion reassured him.

"If someone is after the Deathly Hallows, you must be careful," Luna warned him. "You may very well have to use them."

"At the same time, I need to be careful so that the Elder Wand doesn't get broken," Harry said, letting out a sigh.

Luna cocked her head to the side.

"Give me the wand."

Harry did just that, though he hesitated for a moment. As long as he willingly gave it over, its loyalty would remain, thankfully.

Shock made his eyes widen as she grabbed the wand and tried to snap it over her knee. But instead of breaking, it was as if she had tried to do it with a steel rod.

"Do you really think Death would make a wand that could be broken that easily? I found out everything I could about the Deathly Hallows when I traveled the world. More than one former owner tried to break the wand so that its power couldn't fall into the hands of another. Not even a giant can make a difference. The only solution that was found was that the master of the wand had to die a natural death. Given that you are the Master of Death, it might very well be impossible for the wand's loyalty to go to another unless you die. Even then, it might stay loyal to you even if someone killed you. You are the first Master of Death, so all we can do is make guesses."

With that, she handed the wand back to him.

He was not pleased that she surprised him like that, but the knowledge that the wand could not be broken was nice to have.

"So you think the Elder Wand is the only way to deal with this necromancer?" Harry asked with a frown.

"I believe that all of the Deathly Hallows will have a part to play, but you need to actually see yourself as the Master of Death. You can't control life or death, but that title is not simply for show. Stop doubting yourself. Doubt and fear will only interfere with what needs to be done."

Harry closed his eyes and nodded, understanding what she meant. At least, he thought he did.

"But we can talk about that later," Luna said, smiling brightly. "Why don't we go and have some fun."

"You might want to be specific," Harry said with a nervous laugh. Fun could mean quite a few things, after all.

She actually laughed at that. "Not that, Harry. I was actually thinking about a friendly duel, though it's interesting to see where your mind goes."

With that, she skipped up to the warehouse, leaving a sputtering Harry behind.

Once he recovered, he heading upstair and saw that Luna was sitting on his table, looking at the newspaper.

"Zatanna," he said, looking over to the sofa where she was reading, "we are going to head out and catch up. I'll be back later."

"I'll be here," Zatanna said with a forced smile.

Luna skipped over to him and grabbed his shoulder, allowing him to take her to their destination with side-along apparition.

* * *

The pair ended up finding a good place to duel between Metropolis and Smallville. There were not obstacles or flora that could interfere, they had spells up to keep the duel unnoticed, and they knew that no one was anywhere near the area.

Luna had a new wand in her hand. It was made from aspen and had a core of unicorn hair. It seemed to be a symbol of purity.

Harry had his holly and phoenix wand in his hand. A rock shot up into the air thanks to Harry's wandless magic, and both were ready to strike.

The moment that the rock hit the ground, they began.

Thanks to Harry's lack of recent dueling experience and Luna's natural speed, a bolt of lightning was shot from the tip of Luna's wand before Harry could make a move.

He did not look concerned in the slightest though. He fell to one knee, ducking under the lightning. As he dodged it, he touched his wand to the ground and intoned, "Serpensortia. _Bind her._"

The last words sounded like hissing to Luna, but she was one of the few people that knew that the Peverell brothers had been descendents of Salazar Slytherin. His ability to speak Parseltongue had been instinctual and uncontrolled originally, but the loss of Voldemort's horcrux had allowed his own Parseltongue talents to awaken.

Fire burst from the tip of her wand, circling around her and engulfing the snakes. Her eyes never left Harry though.

Sprinting forward, Harry shot a Color Changing Charm at Luna. It looked identical to a stunner but was easier to cast.

Stepping out of the way, Luna spun around and swung a whip of flames at Harry.

As the whip of flames neared him, he did a sudden flip, completely jumping over it. The moment that his feet touched the ground, a burst of light shot forth and struck her arm. What had appeared to be light had turned into iron chains. She actually started to fall as the heavy iron chains wrapped around her wand hand.

But before she was even halfway there, she used a non-verbal Finite Incantem, dispelling the chains.

"Levicorpus," he whispered as the chains faded away.

She could not stop the spell from hoisting her by her ankle. She could not stop Harry's once signature spell from hitting her either, disarming her and sending her wand to his hand.

"Liberacorpus," he said with a faint smile, lowering her back to the ground.

"You've always been good at dueling," Luna remarked as Harry returned her wand back to her. "That was fun. We should do it again."

There was no doubt about it. Harry really was good at dueling, even after being mostly magic-less for seven and a half years. His skill with offensive magic had always been good, and it had become even greater after Voldemort's defeat. That was when he had experienced a serious power increase thanks to the horcux no longer weakening him. From past experience, she knew that he had held back against her. Some of his best spells were highly dangerous ones. Against a true threat, he would have been far more inclined to use Fiendfyre and Sectumsempra. He had been talented with both when he disappeared.

"If you stick around, I may have to duel with you more often. I didn't realize how out of practice I was," Harry said, shaking his head.

"It's a good thing I'm staying in town then," Luna said as she began to dismantle their privacy spells. "Oh… I just realized I don't have a place to stay yet."

Chuckling, Harry said, "You can stay at my apartment. I'll sleep on the couch."

He half expected her to suggest that they share, but she chose not to, thankfully. While she was still an attractive woman, they simply had not worked as a couple. There were no problems in the intimacy department, but that had simply not been enough. There was a reason that he only had one meaningless fling after the war, after all.

"Why don't you head to the apartment? Get settled in, and I'll be back later. For now, I need to head back to the warehouse and talk to Zatanna," Harry suggested.

With a bright smile, Luna nodded and silently disapparated.

Putting his wand up, he pulled out the Elder Wand. With a single flick, he dismantled all of the remaining privacy spells and restored the area to the same condition it had been before their little duel.

Once that was done, he apparated back to the warehouse.

* * *

Upon arriving back at the warehouse, Harry heard Zatanna ask a question.

"So where's your friend?"

"Luna's back at my house. I'll catch up with her after I go on patrol," Harry answered with a smile. It was definitely nice to have an old friend around again.

"Is she your…."

Zatanna did not have to finish the question. It was obvious to Harry what she was going to ask.

"Luna and I dated for about six months. She was in her last year at Hogwarts, and I was busy as an auror, so we did not see each other that often. In the end, we decided just to be friends. It was a mutual decision," Harry answered.

It was clear that Zatanna was unsure if it was truly in the past, but she did not bring up that subject again.

"Made any progress on figuring out a name or a costume?" Harry asked after a moment of silence.

"Well… I'm not exactly sure how to get a costume. I have a few ideas on what I'd like to wear, but I don't know how to actually get a suit like it," Zatanna admitted.

"Figure out the design, colors, and maybe a symbol for you to wear, and I'll get you a suit. My godfather's cousin… my godson's grandmother… well, I'm not sure what she is to me exactly, but she made my newest suit. My older suit was made by a tailor in England's magical community using measurements that were given to them through a messenger. So get all the relevant information, and I'll get you a suit made," Harry told her. "But what about a name?"

"I think I've decided on Arcana," she answered. "It's connected to tarot cards and essentially means deep secrets or mysteries. I thought about Arcane, but Arcana sounds better to me."

"Arcana… I like that," Harry said approvingly. "Well then, Arcana, do you need any help?"

"No, I'm just doing some reading," Zatanna said with a hint of nervousness.

Harry simply nodded, having seen what book she was reading. If she wanted to read about history, he was not going to complain. So instead, he returned to practicing with his staff, occasionally going down to his lab to check on the Polyjuice Potion.

Before he left for patrol, the potion was completed and stored away for later use with preservation charms applied to the bottles. The next day, he would get started on Veritaserum.

What he did not know was that while has on patrol that night, Zatanna read about the First Wizarding War. It never dawned on him that he was mentioned in the history books, allowing Zatanna to find out exactly what kind of person Harry was.

* * *

After his patrol, he headed straight to his apartment and found Luna sitting on the couch, looking through the file that he had been given by Raya from S.T.A.R. Labs.

"What are you doing?" he asked, shaking his head. He should have known that she would find it eventually, but he had not imagined she would do so right away.

"I was bored, so I thought I'd do some reading," she replied nonchalantly. "This information on the Justice Society is interesting."

"I'm planning on seeking them out eventually, but I'm not sure when," Harry replied as he sat down next to her. "It never said exactly what caused everything to happen. It doesn't sound like it was just Hawkman nearly killing a man."

"I'll find out," Luna said thoughtfully.

"Aren't you a magizoologist?"

"I am, but I was also a reporter for the Quibbler and have invented several spells. Why stick to only one thing if you're good at several?" Luna asked, cocking her head to the side.

Shaking his head, Harry asked, "How are you with potions?"

If the question and change of topic surprised her, Luna did not show it. "It wasn't my best subject, but I never stopped practicing."

"Can you brew Veritaserum for me?" he asked. Honestly, he still was not sure if he was good enough to brew it, so asking her to brew it instead might be the better option.

"Sure, but you know that you can't distract me, right?" Luna asked. "If you're trying to do that, you're being too obvious about it. It works better if you ease into another subject and make it sound like you can't do it without my help."

Harry laughed at that. "No, I am not stupid. I'm just not the best brewer, and I'm trying to learn how to use my staff better, master the spells that I've learned, and work on getting Zatanna a costume. I need Veritaserum so I can start interrogating criminals without worrying about them lying or hiding anything, but I don't really have the time to brew it and do everything else."

"I'll do it, and then I'll see what I can find out," Luna said with a nod of understanding.

"Thanks," Harry said, relieved. "So what did I miss while I was indisposed? Andromeda told me some stuff, but you might know more."

Nodding, Luna began to tell him all about the aftermath of his disappearance.

* * *

Author's Note: Before this story, I didn't realize how hard it can be to write Luna. If it wasn't for the fact that she's had eight years to mature from where we last saw her in the books, I would have made her way OOC.

While I'm talking about Luna, I want to be clear. This story is not Harry/Zatanna/Luna. It's just Harry and Zatanna. I thought it would be interesting to make Luna and Harry exes instead of simply friends. It also means that Zatanna won't be his first or even second relationship. I'd say third, but I never considered Cho as being his girlfriend since she kissed him (poorly) and then they went on a horrible date.

Just in case anyone is curious, no Kryptonian can break the Elder Wand. One could easily break Harry though, making it a little less effective of a power up.

Also, I do have to say that this is a new experience for me. The pacing of this story is slower than what I'm used to. In a way, I regret that I didn't start the story at a later point in time. Granted, Raya being alive did alter enough that I can make Clark become Superman sooner, but it's not as easy as I thought to come up with villains for Harry to deal with at this point in time. Unless I wanted to give the phantoms to Harry to deal with (despite that being a part of Clark's trials) or use a villain that Clark already defeated, I didn't really have anyone to use. Bringing in the wraith was a part of the plan to fix the issue of not having any villains for him to deal with. It's still kind of a slow process, but you have to take what you can get.

Now, I do feel I should address something. If you really want to tell me that I shouldn't do something because it's not how it was done in the comics, or some other thing like that, leave a review after signing in. I don't reply to anonymous reviews. This is the only case that I will address part of such a review though. Zatanna doesn't typically use a secret identity in the comics. However, I'm pretty sure that Green Arrow doesn't generally reveal his secret identity to the world either. Zatanna uses a secret identity because Harry does. Unless they only wanted to see each other in secret, they either both need to have secret identities or both have public ones. Otherwise, too much scrutiny will be placed on them.

Anyways, thanks for reading, reviewing, and offering me your input. I've appreciated it thus far.


	11. Surprise Encounters

**10. Surprise Encounters**

Finding out that her former mentor was written about in the most recent history books that he had… that was not something that Zatanna had ever thought she'd find out. At the age of one, he supposedly vanquished Lord Voldemort, the greatest dark wizard of the age, earning him the title of _the Boy-Who-Lived_. At the age of seventeen, he defeated Lord Voldemort for a second time, earning him the title of _the Man-Who_-_Conquered_.

Whether he actually defeated the dark wizard when he was one or not, he was believed to be responsible for the First Wizarding War and the Second Wizarding War.

According to the book, he accomplished more than that though. He killed a basilisk at the age of twelve, he won the Tri-Wizard Tournament at the age of fourteen, and he broke into Gringotts and escaped on the back of a dragon when he was seventeen. There was speculation that all of his Hogwarts years had been filled with adventure, but the rumors had never been confirmed.

He had been a symbol of hope and heroism for the wizarding world. And then he _died_ in a fight against dark wizards by being knocked through the Veil of Death.

Yet, he was clearly still alive.

It confused Zatanna endlessly. She believed that he was Harry Potter, but it did not make sense for him to be away from England if he was who he said he was.

In the end, it just made Zatanna want to find out more about Harry. At the same time, she decided not to reveal that she knew about his role in the wizarding world unless he brought the subject up.

So instead of worrying about how she would discuss what she had learned, Zatanna spent the next morning going through a book on Ancient Runes. She did not think that the sign of the Deathly Hallows was an ideal emblem to have on her costume. A single mark stood out as she read through the book.

_Arcana_ was the plural form of _Arcanum_, a Latin word meaning _a deep secret_ or _a mystery_. The rune referred to as _Unknown_ seemed to fit the name perfectly. It resembled an egg shaped creature that had four short legs. It symbolized the number seven and the unknown.

Putting down the book, she took out a piece of paper and a pen. Now that she had decided on the mark, she needed to write down her idea for the suit.

Before she could start writing, Luna appeared in front of her with a soft pop.

"Hello Luna," Zatanna greeted with a curt nod.

"Oh, hello Zatanna," Luna greeted in return with a smile. "You need to spend time with Harry. He has a way of making the wrackspurts go away."

Zatanna's confusion could not be appropriately described with words at that moment.

"A wrackspurt is an invisible magical creature that floats in your ears and makes your brain grow fuzzy," Luna explained, nodding sagely. "I'm going to go brew a potion for Harry now. He wanted me to tell you that he's going to go and spend some time with a friend."

With that, she began to skip towards the stairs that led down to the lab.

The encounter left her unsure of what to think. Luna was only three years older than her but clearly had history with Harry and was completely unreadable.

Shaking her head, she picked up her pen and put it to the piece of paper in front of her. She had been debating between two different costume ideas the previous night and had decided on the one that was considered more modest. That single encounter changed her mind though, leading her to write down her description of the costume and list all the measurements that would be needed.

* * *

"Clark, are you here?" Harry asked as he entered the home of the Kent family.

Luna had convinced him to seek out Clark and just spend the day without worrying about what he needed to do as Emrys.

He was a little caught off guard when he saw that Clark was in the kitchen with a woman that he had not seen before. She had short blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Harry, I didn't expect you to stop by today," Clark said, walking towards him.

"An old friend suggested that I stop by a recluse," Harry said with a sheepish chuckle.

"You do spend more time alone than anyone else I've seen," Clark agreed with a nod. "Harry, this is Chloe. She's been my friend since high school. Chloe, this is Harry. We met a couple months ago."

Harry shook her hand with a smile.

"Nice to meet you," he said.

"Same here," Chloe replied, looking at him intently.

It was not difficult for Harry to tell that she was wondering how he and Clark had really met.

"Thanks again for getting me out of there," Harry told Clark. "Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't showed up when you did."

Chloe looked very interested in what they were referring to, and the look in her eyes confirmed Harry's suspicions.

"She knows my secret," Clark said, shaking his head.

"And he knows too?" Chloe asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"He got me out of the Phantom Zone," Harry replied casually, smiling as the dumbfounded expression appeared on her face. "My friends call me Harry, but you probably know me better as Emrys."

Clark groaned as Harry so casually revealed his secret and did not even look concerned in the process.

"If you trust her, then that's good enough for me. Plus, I don't have to tiptoe around the subject now," Harry said, clearly understanding what Clark was thinking.

"You're seriously Emrys?" Chloe asked, still taking that in.

In response, Harry lifted his hand, causing Clark and Chloe to both start rising off of the ground.

"Emrys is the name I use when I'm wearing my mask, so just call me Harry when I'm not wearing my costume," Harry said once he lowered them back to the ground.

"So you knew who Green Arrow and Emrys were but you didn't tell me?" Chloe asked.

"Those weren't my secrets to tell. Besides, you did find out who they both were," Clark replied.

Despite being Kryptonian and having invulnerability as a power, Clark looked as though he understood that an angry woman was something to fear.

"He is right," Harry pointed out. "Besides, if he told you who I was before I said it was okay, I would have just erased your memory. If I really wanted to, I could make you believe that you're a native Canadian and your name is Mary Sue."

"You can do that?" Clark and Chloe asked together. Both seemed pretty horrified by the thought.

"Probably. I've never tried it, but a friend did something similar to protect her parents when she was being targeted," Harry said, thinking about Hermione's actions to get her parents out of England for the war.

Apparently, that explanation reassured them to a certain extent, but hearing that someone could do something like that was unnerving.

"What can't you do?" Chloe asked.

"There are quite a few things I can't do," Harry said, shaking his head. "But I chose my other identity for a reason. Magic can do quite a few things."

"Why don't you get him to help you hunt down the Zoners then," Chloe asked, looking at Clark.

"If he wanted help, he could ask me… or even Raya, but this is personal for him," Harry answered, choosing not to mention that they had both helped Clark already.

"He's right," Clark said. "We know that I need to go to Seattle to find the next Zoner. Raya's certain that someone called _Aldar_ is there. While she works on locating the other Zoners, I need to go and take care of this one. Harry should stay here and keep working as Emrys. I can handle it by myself."

"Everything will turn out right," Harry told Chloe. He knew that J'onn would follow Clark to Seattle, so there was no reason to worry too much. "And to be honest, I'd rather not let the criminals of Suicide Slums to go around unchecked, even if only for a night. If my partner was ready, I'd let her handle my patrols for me, but she probably won't be starting for another week or two."

"Partner?" Chloe asked, voicing Clark's thoughts.

"Yeah, I managed to find someone that is willing to work with me. Arcana still needs to get her costume first though."

"That's big news," Chloe said. "I actually work for the paper, so I could make sure they know what to call her when she shows up."

"I'd like that," Harry said. "I'll make sure to get a message to you when the time comes." He then looked to Clark and remembered the reason Luna had suggested he come over. "When are you heading to Seattle?"

"It won't be until tomorrow."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Would you mind if I just hung around here for a while? I just can't relax when I'm back at my place or my base."

Clark and Chloe both looked interested in the concept of him having a base, but Clark replied before any questions could be asked. "You're welcome to stay around. It might be good to try to relax for now."

So without any real plans, Harry sat down at the table.

* * *

It was nice to simply hang out with a friend for a day and not have to worry about any of his usual problems.

It was not something he planned on doing every day, but the simple things were sometimes the best.

As always, Clark had been rather serious, but he did know how to relax.

Even as he changed into his Emrys costume, he could not help but remember the look on Clark's face when he so casually told Chloe who he was. Even now, he found it humorous. Granted, he had realized that it was stupid to risk his secret like that, but he thought it was worth it in the end. Having someone with access to the Daily Planet could come in handy. Besides, she was Clark's friend.

"Have fun today?"

"Luna, you could at least knock first," Harry muttered, glancing over his shoulder. He had just finished changing, and yet she was already in his room at the apartment.

Turning to face her, he asked, "Do you need anything?"

"Zatanna asked me to give you this so you can get her a suit," Luna answered, holding out a folded piece of paper. "I didn't start the potion today. It'll take a full lunar cycle and works best if you start brewing the day of the New Moon. You're missing some ingredients for it too. Instead, I made you a batch of a weaker truth serum."

The way she could suddenly sound completely normal caught Harry off guard, but he simply nodded his head and took the note.

"I'll ask Andromeda to pick some more ingredients for me," Harry told her.

"I can go instead. I wanted to pick up a few things anyways."

"Are you okay?" Harry asked. He did not have an issue with the suggestion, but she was acting unusual. For her, at least. While she was capable of acting normal, she always ended up saying something complete unexpected. That, he extremely blunt honesty, and her distant and dreamy demeanor had always stood out about her.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking about this dream I had. In it, you were playing the bagpipes. I'm not sure what it means yet," Luna answered, looking up at the ceiling.

And just like that, any thoughts of Luna being serious were blown away.

Shaking his head, Harry asked, "I can wait for Veritaserum, especially if you have something else. Is it ready?"

In response, Luna removed a bottle of it from her jacket and handed it to Harry. "Just a single mouthful will be enough."

"Thanks for your help," Harry said, taking the bottle. A truth serum would be very useful, especially if he could uncover the men in charge of the crime in Suicide Slums. He was only taking care of the symptoms, not the source.

"I'll be back in a couple days," Luna said, taking the piece of paper back from him. "I'll bring Zatanna's costume with me when I return. Try not to get in trouble while I'm gone. The nargles can only do so much."

"I promise," Harry said, shaking his head. "But for now, I need to get a move on."

Nodding, Luna bid him a momentary farewell before he left.

* * *

The next two days seemed to pass fast, yet Harry's patrols seemed even slower than normal.

The first night, Harry had been content to go about his patrols as normal but with the addition of using the truth serum on each criminal he dealt with in order to find more information. That had resulted in him finding out about the truly serious drug dealers and the dangerous men and women that everyone knew were guilty but could never prove.

On the second night, he had managed to grab a couple extra bottles of the potion and a low-tech tape recorder. There were spells to protect electronics from excess magic, but he was not that skilled with them so far. The tape recorder was not affected by his presence though, fortunately.

So by the end of the night, he had delivered some of the biggest criminals of Suicide Slums to the jail, along with a taped recording that contained the confessions of each and every one of them.

That was not all he had been up to, however.

During the days, he had spent time around Zatanna, even beginning to give her physical training. He had also stopped by a visited Clark when he had time so that he could see how things went in Seattle.

From what he gathered, Clark had encountered Aldar, but a mysterious third party had been the one to actually finish off Aldar for good. Harry suspected that it was J'onn, he would not know for certain until he spoke with the Martian Manhunter again.

At the present, half of the Zoners had been dealt with while the other half were still out there somehow. With Raya actively searching for any sign of them, it would not be long until the rest were found.

He was broken from his train of thought when he heard a soft pop.

Turning to look, he saw that Luna had just disapparated back.

"That was quick," he remarked.

"Fawkes decided to take me there and back. He's as your apartment now with my belongings."

"Did you get everything?" Harry asked curiously.

Instead of saying something, she took off her backpack and set it down on the ground. Unzipping and reaching into it, she pulled out a few boxes that looked like they contained potion ingredients. After that, she pulled out three packages that were wrapped in brown paper and tied using leather strips. Each one had the letter _Z_ written on the front of them.

While that was all that he had expected her to get, it was not all that she removed from the backpack.

The final object that she removed from the backpack was a shrunken cupboard.

"What's inside that?" he asked curiously.

"Oh… your Christmas present," Luna answered, appearing to actually have to think about it. "I'll keep it until it's time."

His interest in the contents of the cupboard did not diminish in the slightest, but he did not press the matter.

Moving over to one of the packages, Harry decided to see what Zatanna's suit actually looked like.

As he reached out to pick one up, Luna slapped his hand.

"You should let it be a surprise," she scolded. Being scolded by someone that looked like they were zoning out was a strange appearance, but Harry knew better than to argue with a woman.

"She has shows every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night, so I guess she can start coming with me Monday if she's ready," Harry said, picking up the boxes of ingredients so that he could put them up.

"You should be there. It's what you would have done for us," Luna said, putting Zatanna's packages back in the backpack.

"I would, but I always start my patrol when the sun goes down," Harry said with a frown. He really did want to see her show, both out of curiosity and to show some support. An answer suddenly came to him. "Luna, would you mind covering for me until her show is over with. I made a big cauldron of Polyjuice Potion, so as long as you made sure to drink it every hour and reapply the glamour and voice alteration charms afterwards, you could fill in for me.

"That sounds fun. I wondered what it was like to be a superhero," Luna said, looking excited. "You should take her costumes to her while you're there too."

"Superhero… I haven't heard that term yet," Harry said, thinking aloud.

"You will," Luna said matter-of-factly.

* * *

Watching Zatanna perform on stage was unlike anything Harry had imagined.

As a child, he knew a little of what magicians did. He had, after all, assumed that they were going to pull a rabbit out of the Sorting Hat.

But that was only the tip of the iceberg with Zatanna.

She was truly an illusionist of stage, preferring to use sleight of hand and other muggle magic tricks to entertain. Once or twice, he suspected that she actually used real magic, but she never said any incantation similar to what she typically used.

After the show came to an end and the rest of the audience made their way out of the room, Harry approached the stage. She had given no sign that she had even seen him throughout the show, and her back was to him now.

"You're definitely good at what you do, Zatanna," Harry remarked.

She spun around with a surprised look on her face. "Harry? I didn't expect you to come by. I thought you'd be… working."

"Luna's covering for me for at least part of the night," Harry replied. "Earlier, she suggested I come by and see your show. Since I've wanted to see it for a while now, I decided to just do it."

It was not hard to tell that Zatanna was very pleased to hear that he had wanted to come to her show and actually did in the end. But she was hesitant to reveal her feelings on the matter, verbally. "Did you say that Luna is back?"

"Yeah, I did," Harry said, handing her the backpack that Luna had given him. "She wanted me to pass on your suits. She thought it would be better if I didn't see it until you're ready to join me."

"That was nice of her," Zatanna said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. Shaking her head, she changed the subject. "So what did you think of the show in all honesty?"

Without pausing even for a moment, Harry answered, "It was great. You definitely have a talent at doing that." He tried to keep his eyes on her face as he spoke to her, but it was not exactly easy. With the black tuxedo top, fishnet tights, and black leather boots, it was actually very easy to find himself distracted.

"I appreciate that," Zatanna said after a moment of silence. "After the first of the year, I'm going to start having shows on Friday and Saturday at seven o'clock only, so I won't be as occupied with this."

"What's it like?" Harry asked suddenly. "You spent at least a few years traveling the country doing shows, but now you're staying in one place."

"Traveling around isn't really that glamorous, especially after a few years of doing it," Zatanna admitted. "I don't really mind staying in one place, though I did not imagine that Metropolis would be where I'd stop. I inherited a manor from my father just outside of Gotham. When I was younger, I was close friends with someone there, so I always thought I'd stay at Gotham instead of Metropolis. The city does grow on you though."

Harry could not help but nod his head in agreement. Smallviille had grown on him first, but Metropolis had grown on him just as much. It was a nice place to stay, even if it did have a crime problem.

"I did not know that," Harry said, only now realizing how isolated he had made himself. "My godfather left me a place in London when he died. My parents' place in Godric's Hollow would have been passed down to me as well, but it became a sort of monument after their death."

"Because that's where the war ended?" Zatanna asked, earning a surprised look from Harry. "I wasn't going to say anything, but I know who you are. Your name is mentioned in your history books."

Harry just shook his head, having completely forgotten about that. "Yeah, I suppose you would know enough then. The house became a monument to the ones that ended the first war. I'm told that it was fixed after the second war and rededicated because of my role in both wars, but I haven't been there since Christmas Eve of ninety-seven."

"It's easy to forget that you're three years older than me," Zatanna remarked, shaking her head.

Harry just nodded. It was still hard for him to believe that so much time had passed when he was in the Phantom Zone. It felt like seven years of his life were just gone.

"I should go and take over for Luna," Harry said suddenly, turning to leave.

"Harry," Zatanna said, catching his attention. "if you ever need to talk about something, you know where to find me. I'd be happy to help. That's what friends do."

"I'll keep that in mind," Harry promised. And surprisingly, he felt certain that he would do just that. She was someone that he felt he could trust.

With that, he made his way out of the room. He needed to take over for Luna so he could do his duties as Emrys and think about the feelings that surfaced around his partner. Seven years in a wasteland filled with deadly criminals had life him unsure what to do in situations such as this.

He was barely outside of the building when he spotted the last figure that he had expected to find in Metropolis.

Standing on the other side of the street from him was Lucius Malfoy.

"Potter," he said, drawing his wand.

"Malfoy," Harry replied evenly, casually reaching his hand into his pocket.

The simple action made Lucius point his wand at Harry in preparation.

Before the former Death Eater could react, Harry threw down a pinch of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder, shrouding the area in darkness.

It only lasted for thirty seconds, but it was all the time he needed.

Harry had been able to remove his dress shirt, transfigure it into a cloak, put his mask on, and use his typical disguise spells under the cover of the darkness.

On the ledge of the building that he had just been standing in front of, Harry now stood as Emrys.

Reaching up, he caught his staff, having wandlessly summoned it. He was sure Luna would be wondering what caused him to summon it, but the Elder Wand was not exactly the weapon he wanted to use against Lucius Malfoy. Not until he knew what he wanted.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"Isn't it obvious? I want your death…."

Lucius looked surprised as his tongue began to twist in his mouth, stopping him from speaking Harry's name.

"You should have attacked through the darkness. You have me plenty of time to prepare," Harry said, pointing his staff at Lucius. "Now tell me what I want to know. How did you find me?"

"You have enemies, _Emrys_," Lucius said, spitting the name out with great distaste. "I am content to kill you for turning the Malfoy name into trash, but the Mistress wants more."

Instead of speaking further, he threw an Entrail Expelling Curse at Harry, only for him to send it straight up with a swing of his staff.

"You'll have to try better than that," Harry said, gripping the staff tightly.

Before Lucius could retort or throw another curse, Harry apparated in front of him, grabbed Lucius by the shoulder, and apparated somewhere that they could fight without causing collateral damage of any kind.

* * *

The pair appeared in the same area where Harry had dueled against Luna recently.

Upon arrival, Harry slammed the staff into the abdomen of Lucius and intoned, "Depulso."

With incredible force, Lucius was sent flying back.

"Avada Kedavra!" Lucius yelled mid-air with his wand pointed at Harry.

As the green light sped towards Harry, he used his staff to do a pole vault into the air.

It harmlessly missed him, but Harry's next spell was not so harmless.

"Sectumsempra," Harry intoned in a cold voice, bringing his staff down in a swift arc as he landed on the ground.

Just as the dark curse was about to hit him, Lucius turned into shadows and disappeared.

"A wraith?" Harry asked himself with a look of confusion on his face.

"No, I can assure you that you were not dealing with a wraith."

Harry spun around and saw that Luna was walking towards him.

"When you summoned the staff from my hands, I thought I'd find you here," Luna remarked, her eyes scanning the area. "I saw the end of your fight. The way he turned into shadows was similar to a wraith being defeated, but it's not the same thing. It's an old magic that hasn't been seen since the time of the Peverell brothers."

"Lucius said something about _the Mistress_," Harry said with a frown. "Any idea what that was about?"

"I do not know," Luna admitted. "But you must be on your guard and get Zatanna ready. Before long, they will stop testing you and actually try to kill you."

"Lucius just wanted me dead, but whoever his mistress is must want the Deathly Hallows," Harry said with a grimace.

"All the more reason to bring Zatanna into the fold completely," Luna pointed out.

"You know… I think I like it better when you're not serious. Hearing about nargles and wrackspurts is much less unnerving," Harry told her.

"It is," Luna agreed. "But for now, we should be more mindful of the necromancer… and hope she doesn't have heliopaths."

"That's what you said Fudge had, right?" Harry asked, vaguely remembering Luna's remarks about him having an army of the creatures.

"Daddy thought so, but his eye sight isn't what it used to be. I did think it was strange. Heliopaths are nearly extinct, so he couldn't have an army of them," Luna replied.

Somehow, her words actually made him feel a little relieved. The knowledge that Lucius Malfoy was able to so easily find him was very unnerving, so hearing Luna talk about a magical creature that may or may not actually exist was somewhat relaxing.

"I think I'll call it a night and get some rest," Harry said after a moment of silence. "Zatanna probably won't even come by until Monday, but there are things I can do to prepare until then.

* * *

"I could have handled him," Lucius Malfoy said, pacing back and forth in his chambers.

"Poor Lucy was brought back before he could die. Does he need a hug?" Bellatrix Lestrange asked mockingly from the doorway. "Just consider yourself lucky that Lady Morgana did not consider the end result a failure."

"I liked you better when you were insane," Lucius retorted, glaring at his former sister-in-law. He knew better than to say anything about it being a mistake for their Mistress to restore her sanity though. Bellatrix had always been fanatically devoted, but it was so much worse when it came to the likes of Morgaine le Fey.

"Your revenge and your opinions are meaningless, Lucy," Bellatrix stated flatly, turning her back to Lucius. "All that matters is that you do as you are told. You are expendable. If you don't learn that soon, I will show you first hand."

Without saying anything further, she left the room.

The encounter made Lucius punch the wall with all his strength. It was because of Harry Potter that the Malfoy name was equated with scum, that his wife had left him, and that he had lost everything that truly mattered to him.

He would be the one to kill the _Man-Who-Conquered_, even if he did have to wait until Morgaine le Fey gave him permission to try again.

But in the end, revenge would be his.

* * *

Author's Note: I wasn't sure how to go about this chapter originally and ended up combining what I had planned for Chapters 10 and 11 since they appeared to be much shorter than intended. This is the result.

Anyways, I think the chapter came out fairly well. There's plenty of character interaction, hints of romantic tension, and the revelation of who is after Harry and the Deathly Hallows. Bellatrix was hinted at being alive from the prologue, though I was careful not to say which Death Eater survived. And Lucius actually replaced Draco as an intended villain for Harry to deal with. That's not to say that Draco won't end up being a villain, but he won't be working for Morgana if he does.

I did not reveal what Zatanna's costume is in this chapter, but it will be shown next chapter if all goes as planned. If you're curious about the symbol she used, go to the Harry Potter wiki and look up "Unknown". I thought it was one of the better runes for her costume.

I'm still trying to get the right balance when writing Luna, but I've noticed that she is usually more normal in the books than she is in fanfiction, so I hope it's working out as I have it.

Now, I feel like I have to say something.

Smallville does not follow the comics religiously, and I'm not going to do it with a Smallville crossover either. If you want me to follow the comics exactly, then you're going to be disappointed. If I want Dick Grayson to be the first Robin and Tim Drake to be his successor, I'll do it. It's better than Barbara Gordon becoming Nightwing in my opinion.

I won't be completely disregarding the comics, but I won't restrict myself by only following them either. Also, I would probably follow New 52 if I actually did follow the comics, which is pretty different from what I've seen. But like I said, I won't be following any series of comics too strictly.

I think that's everything I intended to say, so I'll just end this here.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	12. Arcana

**11. Arcana**

The next day, Harry did not stick around at the warehouse like he would normally. He had only stopped by to see if Zatanna had decided to stop by. When she was not there, he began to work on his new plans.

Luna had decided to seek out the remaining members of the Justice Society of America and find out everything that she could. Honestly, Harry had no idea what exactly she was planning, but that was to be expected. Luna had never been predictable.

While she was busy obtaining that information, Harry had returned to the place where he had trained when he first came to Smallville.

The moment that he was there and had all the necessary spells up to keep anyone from entering the area or noticing him, Harry touched his ring. He twisted the ring three times, going in complete revolutions.

The moment that it reached the end of the third turn, a chill ran down his spine.

"Harry, I wondered when you would call for me."

Harry looked over his shoulder and saw the spirit of Albus Dumbledore.

"Do you know why I called you forth?" Harry asked, skipping the pleasantries.

"I am not ignorant of recent events. You never once called me during your time in the Phantom Zone, but I know of your escape and everything that has happened since, including the incidents with this necromancer," Dumbledore answered calmly. "Regretfully, I do not know who the necromancer is. But what I do know is that the magic that she is clearly capable of is ancient. Every record on the usage of such magic was lost over a century ago. I am still unsure how it could be used by someone now."

"I'm not here to talk about the necromancer," Harry told him. "I summoned you so I could ask about the Deathly Hallows."

That was one of the rare occasions where Harry actually saw Dumbledore surprised. He recovered quickly though.

"What do you wish to know? You are the only one to have gathered all three of the Deathly Hallows," Dumbledore asked.

"I have all three and am the _Master of Death_, whatever that means," Harry said. "But there is still too much I don't know. I did not even realize that the Elder Wand was unbreakable until Luna showed me."

"I cannot help you as much as you would like to believe," Dumbledore confessed. "I had the Elder Wand since I defeated Gellert. It is the Hallow that I know the most about. You have its loyalty, but you have not learned to access its full potential yet. The only guidance I can offer on the subject is to abandon your fear and worry. Belief in yourself and your abilities is the key to wielding its power."

"And what do you know about the others?" Harry asked, making a mental note to remember Dumbledore's words.

"The Invisibility Cloak was in my possession for over a decade, and I only possessed the Resurrection Stone for less than a year. I did not learn much about their abilities. I was never the cloak's master, and the stone's powers can be as difficult as the Mirror of Erised," Dumbledore answered. "The cloak's loyalty is unusual compared to the other Hallows. If you bequeathed the cloak to another, its loyalty would transfer. If it is not passed down before its owner dies, it transfers to the nearest blood relative. And the stone's loyalty is the most fickle. Its loyalty can be obtained by anyone who uses it, and it can only be retained by continuing to use it. Even so, you must be careful about how it is used. Abusing the Resurrection Stone can taint your soul. Beyond that, all I can tell you about the Deathly Hallows is that they are invulnerable. They cannot be destroyed by any means."

He did not gain much from hearing that explanation, but Harry found it interesting nonetheless.

"I guess I should probably let you go then," Harry said, looking at the Resurrection Stone.

"Perhaps I can help you in another way first, Harry," Dumbledore suddenly said, earning his attention. "I cannot help you further where the Deathly Hallows are concerned. However, the Deathly Hollows are not the answer to every problem. Whether they were made by the Peverell brothers or Death itself, they are simply tools in the end."

"And it never hurts to have more than just a few tools," Harry guessed.

"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. "I do not mean to sound arrogant, but my knowledge of the magical arts was nearly unrivaled. Perhaps some of my knowledge may help you."

With that, Harry began to learn from the spirit of Dumbledore.

* * *

The next day, Harry found Zatanna at the warehouse again. This time, she was in the basement with Luna, apparently being taught how to brew potions.

Seeing that they were busy, he had summoned used the Resurrection Stone to summon Dumbledore once again. Only the bearer of the stone could see or hear the dead that were resurrected with it, so Harry could use it pretty much anywhere. He just could not talk to the spirits of the dead without it being possible for him to be overheard.

Closing his eyes, Harry mentally prepared himself as Dumbledore had instructed him to.

As his eyes opened, an uncommon ability showed itself.

His eyes were glowing solid green. It was the exact same shade of green as the Killing Curse, but it was most certainly not dark magic. It was an ability commonly called _Mage Sight_. It allowed the user to perceive the world through magic. Every trace of magic in the area was visible.

He quickly deactivated the ability as a headache came on. The traces of magic within the warehouse were too strong for him to handle.

"You can master it another time," Dumbledore told him. "It will become easier to control it over time, but it is easier to start in areas without magic."

"What's next then?" Harry asked.

"I could teach you for twenty years and still have more that you don't know," Dumbledore remarked. "It would be more beneficial that I teach you aspects of magic beyond mere spells. Mage Sight, Legilimency, how to become an Animagus, how to bond a familiar… those will benefit you more at the present."

Harry could not deny that. Those did sound like they would be useful, even if he did dislike Legilimency a great deal due to his past encounters with it.

"Legilimency is something I can explain to you, but it cannot be practiced on the dead. If you wish to learn it, you must practice on a master Occlumens or you must have phoenix tears on hand. Phoenix tears can heal damage done to the mind if it is used immediately," Dumbledore continued.

"Luna might be an Occlumens, but I don't know about Zatanna," Harry said. Fawkes had allowed him to have a single vial of phoenix tears for his staff, but he had not been forthcoming when Harry had asked since then.

"Zatanna Zatara… you said that was your friend's name, correct?" Dumbledore asked suddenly.

"Yeah, that's her name," Harry answered, confused at the sudden interest.

"It is ironic that she is your friend," Dumbledore remarked. "Zatanna Zatara is a direct descendent of Nicolas Flamel through her mother, Sindella. If she were to ever visit Gringotts, she could claim the Flamel vault and the vast riches within. But even more important than that, she would find the most valuable notes on alchemy in the world."

Harry saw the true irony to Zatanna's heritage. He had stopped Voldemort from getting his hands on her ancestor's stone. In a way, he could be blamed for the man's death, though he doubted Zatanna would see it that way.

"John Zatara died recently," Harry told him.

"Her parents died so that she might live. She has that in common with you," Dumbledore said. "Now, do you have a request on what we shall work on?"

Harry actually had to think about that. All of them sounded like good ideas, but picking one was not easy.

"What does a familiar bond actually do?" Harry asked.

"A familiar bond is similar to the bond between a wizard and a house elf, but both parties are more equal. Unless Fawkes is listening for you, you cannot call to him for help at the present. If you formed a familiar bond with him, he would come to you anytime you called, you would be able to tell where each other were at all times, and you would be able to understand his cries almost as if he could speak English. In turn, Fawkes receives companionship and a sense of security. Phoenixes are intelligent magical creatures and are nearly impossible to truly kill. As such, they have need of very little, but companionship is something that benefits everyone."

"I don't suppose I'd get to learn how to flame travel, would I?" Harry asked, half-joking.

"It is rumored that wizards have learned such an ability before, but I gained no such ability when I bonded Fawkes as my familiar. I did notice that my talent with fire-based magic increased a noticeable extent, however," Dumbledore said, deep in thought.

"Fawkes, do you want to become my familiar?" Harry asked, looking at Fawkes.

A happy tune came from the phoenix as he flew over to Harry.

"Listen carefully and I will explain the process," Dumbledore said.

Harry began the process of bonding Fawkes as his familiar at that point.

* * *

After gaining his first bonded familiar, Harry spent the rest of the day learning all about Legilimency and how to use it. He did not practice it and did not have any immediate plans of using it, but Harry could not deny that the knowledge could be useful to have.

Once they were done for the day and Dumbledore had been sent back, Harry put his costume on and waited for Zatanna to show up.

He did not have to wait long.

It was still ten minutes before sunset when Zatanna walked up from the lab.

He immediately understood why Luna had convinced him not to look at the costume when she returned.

Zatanna's costume came in the form of a black catsuit. Made from scarlet-colored leather, she also wore a pair of knee-high boots, a belt, and a pair of gloves that covered her forearms. On her chest, Harry saw a scarlet-colored rune that he recognized thanks to Hermione. It represented the number seven, the unknown, and occasionally death. After looking carefully, he saw that the rune was also visible on her belt in silver. In her hands, she was holding a scarlet mask.

"Same color scheme?" Harry asked, recovering quickly. He doubted it would be a good idea to admire her at the moment, even if her costume was rather form-fitting.

"I thought about going with blue or purple, but they don't stand out against black as nicely as red," Zatanna explained as she walked over to him. "Can I get you to attach my mask? I can get it to stay on, but my spell fades after a couple hours."

"Sure," Harry said, taking the mask from her. She pulled back her hair so that he could wrap the ends of the mask around her head. It seemed to be measured perfectly. In fact, the ends of the mask just barely met at the back of her head. He used a Sticking Charm to keep the mask in place.

It was only after he placed the charm that he realized how close he was to Zatanna. He could feel her breath on his chest through his suit, and he had no doubt that she could feel his on her neck.

"Sorry," he said, taking a step back.

"Don't be," she told him with a smile.

Unsure what to say to that, he removed his wand from its holster.

"Do you want your hair or eye color changed?" he asked. "People might notice that you have the same eye color, hair color, and hair length as _Arcana_."

She seemed to consider that for a moment before she shook her head. "Wearing a mask is one thing, but I'd rather not change too much about me."

"Fair enough," Harry conceded. He would have preferred to go out and do everything without a mask or disguise at all, but it was necessary for him. Also, he had noticed that the public liked a masked hero, even if there were plenty of critics. "But you might want to be careful. If you keep the same eye color, hair color, haircut, and voice, one of your fans might recognize you."

"Then maybe I should leave most of the talking to you," Zatanna suggested.

It was a simple solution. Hopefully, everyone would focus more on figuring out who he was than who she was anyways.

"What do you say we get started?" Harry asked, summoning his staff.

"I'm ready when you are, partner," Zatanna replied.

Harry walked over to his motorcycle, swung a leg over it and started. Without needing any prompting, Zatanna got on behind him, wrapping her arms around his stomach.

It was a new experience for Harry to ride with a girl behind him, but he was not about to complain. He disillusioned them and used his telekinetic abilities to open and shut the door.

As soon as they were outside of the warehouse, the motorcycle took flight, moving towards Suicide Slums.

When they were nearing the area, he removed the charms that kept the bike hidden.

"This is incredible," Zatanna whispered as they flew above the city.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Harry told her as he pulled back in the throttle, accelerating towards his destination. "Our first target is the leader of one of the major gangs in Suicide Slums. He will have men prepared to kill just to get on his good side. Be careful. You do not want to be shot. Your suit won't protect you. Not that mine would do much good either."

"My suit is enchanted," Zatanna said, surprising him. "Luna said that she had the suit made by non-magicals, but she enchanted it. On the inside, it's enchanted to be comfortable and not rub against my skin. On the outside, it's enchanted to be durable and resistant to foreign magic."

"It doesn't cover your head, so you still need to be careful," Harry told her, while making a mental note to talk to Luna about getting his suit enchanted as well.

"I'll be careful," Zatanna promised.

The pair's first night as a team began on that note.

* * *

It was an eventful night. The pair ended up taking down the leaders of two major gangs in Suicide Slums along with everyone within those gangs that could have stepped up and taken the positions of leadership. It would have been an impossible feat for Harry to do in a single day by himself, but Zatanna was good with her abilities, even if she was not used to using them in combat. Being able to work nearly twice as fast was very useful.

They were both shot at a number of times, but Harry had always possessed considerable reaction time, allowing him to save both of them from getting hit.

Along the way, they had also run into Chloe. That had been set up so that there would be a plausible explanation behind her finding out about _Arcana_.

After they were done for the night, they returned to the warehouse.

Getting off the bike, Harry removed his mask and looked at Zatanna.

"You did very well tonight," he told her.

The sincere look in his eyes brought a smile to her face.

"I actually enjoyed it," she said, removing her mask as well. "It feels great to be able to use your abilities to put criminals away and help innocent people."

"It does," Harry agreed. That had been something he liked from the very beginning. Being able to help people had profound effects on a person.

"So how does it feel to have a partner?" Zatanna asked, her voice unreadable.

Harry did not even have to think about it. "It's pretty nice. I usually had friends to help me on my adventures when I was younger, so I guess you could say I'm used to having a partner around. To be honest, you're one of the best partners I've had."

And it was true. Ron was nice, but he had never been the most skilled with magic. Hermione was a great friend and skilled in magic, but she always had a tendency to be a little preachy. By the time they joined him in his adventures, Neville, Ginny, and Luna were all great. But even so, there was just something about working with Zatanna that made it more enjoyable.

He looked at Zatanna and was unable to tell what she was thinking.

That was when she did something that caught him off guard.

She stepped forward and kissed him.

She was definitely not the first girl that he had been kissed by. There had been Cho, Ginny, Daphne, and Luna. So he was not about to stand there and let her kiss him.

He could have pushed her away, but he rejected the idea immediately.

Instead, he kissed her back, placing a hand on her back and at her waist.

The kiss intensified until they had to break away to take a breath.

"Wow," she said, taking a deep breath. "I think I've found a mouth more magical than mine."

Harry actually laughed at that. "I'm not sure how true that is. From what I just experienced, I'd say yours is pretty magical." That brought a smile to her face. "So what does this make us?"

She raised an eyebrow at that. "I hope you don't think I'm the type of girl that just kisses random vigilantes." Her smile returned when he laughed, shaking his head. "I want to be with you. Call me your girlfriend or your lover. I don't care what exactly you call it. I just want to be with you. Needless to say, I want us to be exclusive."

"That's good to hear," Harry said before he pulled her into another kiss. She kissed him back with even more enthusiasm than she had shown earlier.

* * *

Author's Note: Now we're at the place I've been looking forward to. Zatanna has finally become Arcana, and Harry has finally started a relationship with her. Things should be picking up from here.

I'll address a few things that I expect to be asked.

First off, I know that Zatanna is Flamel's descendent, canonically. I also know that he is generally used as a paternal descendent. Because I made John Zatara a Homo Magic (which makes sense from what we've seen in Smallville) and felt that it would be better if Sindella was a witch, making Flamel her maternal descendent seemed to work better.

Secondly, I know how people usually see Dumbledore. Frankly, I see him as a plot tool instead of a character. Expect me to use him as a well intentioned character that was unable to admit to the mistakes he made when he got to be older. Harry doesn't agree with his point of view on many things, but Dumbledore is the best option to have teach him certain things. Severus Snape, Alastor Moody, Remus Lupin, and Albus Dumbledore would all be willing to help Harry and are in the position to do so. They are the ones he is most likely to summon because they can best help him. Sure, summoning the founders, Ignotus Peverell, or Merlin might be pretty cool, but why would they help him at this point? With the four that he is most likely to summon, he can make do without the help of a legendary wizard for a while.

And thirdly, the Daphne that was mentioned was Daphne Greengrass. It may or may not be mentioned, but she was Harry's only real fling in this story. It was pretty much just a one night stand, and that was the end of it.

Now on a closing note, I do appreciate input from my readers. If you have anything you want to say, I will hear you out. That is the easiest way to grow as a writer from what I've seen.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	13. Progress

**12. Progress**

The next day, Harry apparated back to the warehouse and made his way down to his lab.

Upon arriving, he immediately noticed that Zatanna was the only one down there.

"Where's Luna?" he asked, surprised to see that Luna was not teaching Zatanna more about potions.

"You know, asking your girlfriend about your ex-girlfriend before you even say hello isn't good manners," Zatanna remarked, turning to look at him with a hint of amusement. "You're lucky that Luna explained things between you and I know that you're loyal."

"Sorry," Harry apologized sheepishly. He had not even thought how it would sound. "I just saw that you were working on a potion and panicked a little. It can be a pretty dangerous art."

"Luna spent around eight hours teaching me potions today, and she said I'm pretty good at it. It's just like cooking, really. She said as long as I paid attention and did everything in order, I'd be fine," Zatanna told him, clearly not worried in the least. "Did you need something?"

"We need to talk when you have time, but it can wait until you're not busy," Harry said. After he returned home last night, he had realized that he owed Zatanna answers on quite a few things.

"You can tell me now. I just need to bottle this potion," Zatanna said, looking at Harry curiously for a moment.

"I guess it won't hurt to start," Harry said after a moment of silence. "Do you have any questions about before my _death_?"

"You can tell me the specifics of your adventures later. Apart from wanting to know how your adventures worked out, the only thing I'm really curious about is your ability to survive what should kill anyone else," Zatanna answered.

Nodding, Harry thought about how best to word his explanation. "Well, I survived the first Killing Curse because of my mother. She used a form of old magic. It was sacrificial in nature. When she was killed protecting me, the magic caused the Killing Curse to rebound. It left the lightning bolt scar on my forehead. The second time I survived the Killing Curse, it was because a fragment of Voldemort's soul was trapped within my scar as a result of the Killing Curse rebounding when I was one. The Killing Curse actually worked. It just didn't work how it was intended to. It's a bit complicated to explain it completely, so let's just say that it killed the soul fragment instead of me. And as for the last instance that should have killed me… well, I guess the Deathly Hallows saved me. I don't understand it, but somehow I was sent to another dimension called the Phantom Zone."

Zatanna shivered at the notion of having a piece of a dark wizard's soul inside of her. She was very glad to hear that the soul fragment was gone. But what really interested her was what he said at the end.

"The Phantom Zone?" she asked, completely unfamiliar with the term.

"The Phantom Zone is an intergalactic prison created by an alien scientist named Jor-El. To be sent there, you had to at least be a serial killer. That would be a minor crime there, actually. The ones that committed the truly evil crimes were stripped of their bodies, turning them into something called a _phantom_. Imagine a ghost that can interact with the physical world and can possess the living," Harry answered, shivering slightly. "The Phantom Zone is a world where time is meaningless. You never eat or drink. You only have to sleep to rest your mind. You do not age, even though the outside world does. And your powers do not work. Given that you have to deal with the criminals inside of the Phantom Zone, you can imagine how horrible of a place it is."

In all honesty, Zatanna could not think of too many places worse than that. Azkaban was the only one that she could think of, actually.

"I was lucky, I suppose," Harry said thoughtfully. "The Deathly Hallows were unaffected by the Phantom Zone. The Elder Wand was useless since it doesn't have any innate abilities, but the Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone were invaluable."

"So you really do have all three of the Deathly Hallows," Zatanna suddenly said, reminding Harry that he had not actually told her that he had all three. "Then you are the Master of Death."

"As far as I've seen, it's just a title. But that's not the point," Harry said, shaking his head. "After seven and a half years, the son of Jor-El showed up. He opened a gateway back to this world, and I escaped through it. I stayed with Kal-El for a little while before I returned to London. After a week at my place there, I came to Metropolis and became Emrys. Six criminals escaped the Phantom Zone with us though. Three of them have been dealt with, but the other three are another matter."

"That is an incredible story," Zatanna remarked, still taking everything in. "You said that the son of Jor-El lives somewhere around here. Does that mean that aliens actually live on Earth with us?" The question was said with such honest curiosity that Harry answered without hesitation.

"Currently, there are two Kryptonians on Earth, along with one Martian. Those are the only ones I know of, at least."

It was not hard to figure out that _Kryptonian _was the name of the alien race that created the Phantom Zone, but she was more interested in the idea of a Martian.

"I'm not revealing their identities," Harry told her, seeing her curiosity. "That's not my secret to tell. The same goes for _Arcana_ and _Green Arrow_."

Once again, he had revealed that he had information that she had not been aware of.

"I get the feeling that I don't know as much about what's being going on as I thought," Zatanna stated.

Nodding, Harry began to tell her what had happened from when he became Emrys all the way up to his encounter with Lucius Malfoy. He only left out the unimportant parts and the details that would have exposed someone's identity. She still found out about him assisting in the capture of one of the phantoms, about the file from S.T.A.R. Labs, and about his usage of the Resurrection Stone.

"I'm a direct descendent of Nicolas Flamel?" she asked in surprise, clearly having been unaware. "My father never spoke of our ancestors."

That actually started Harry on the topic of his first adventure at Hogwarts.

Instead of being upset about his role in her ancestor's death, she actually looked excited about two different things. The first was that he had actually gotten to hold the fabled Philosopher's Stone. The second was that she had a vault that she could claim in London.

"Can you arrange a trip so we can check it out?" Zatanna asked.

Instead of giving a single word answer, he said, "How would you feel about spending Christmas in London with me? Well, my godson and his grandmother would be there too, but I think that's it."

His answer came in the form of a smile and a kiss.

* * *

After he finished up at the warehouse, Harry had decided to pay a visit to Clark and see how he was doing.

He was done learning from Dumbledore for now. There was no doubt a great deal more he could learn from the man, but spending all his time learning new spells was not going to help him as much as he would like to believe. The Deathly Hallows and the new abilities that he had been working on would help far more than a greater arsenal of spells. That was not to say that learning new spells was pointless, but the ones that he currently knew would be enough for now.

Ideally, he would have liked to start learning how to perform an animagus transformation from Dumbledore. While the man was not an animagus himself, he had taught transfiguration and could have become one if he had wished to. Unfortunately, he did not have the ingredients to create the Animagus Revealing Potion, which was necessary to learn what form a person could obtain. He could easily buy it when he went to London for Christmas though.

In the meantime, Harry thought he should keep in touch with his few friends. J'onn was always difficult to contact, but Clark always seemed to be around. Given that he dropped out of college and only worked around the farm, he was only gone when he had something very important to do.

Harry pulled up to the farm on his now white motorcycle. He had used the Color Changing Charm on it so that he could go for a ride on the open road without anyone suspecting that it was the bike of Emrys. It helped that he had shrunk the bike down to its original size too. It seemed that it had only been increased in size to carry Hagrid, so he saw no reason to keep it magically enlarged.

Killing the engine, Harry saw Martha step out of the house.

"Oh Harry, it's nice to see you again," she greeted, walking towards him. "Clark mentioned you were back, but you only showed up when I was away from the house."

"I haven't come by that often," Harry admitted. "I visited right after I came back, then I showed up at the Fortress to help him out, I showed up just before he went to Seattle after that, and the last time I stopped by was not long after he returned from Seattle."

"I imagine you've been busy," Martha remarked, holding up the newspaper.

"I still can't figure out how they manage to get the article written and the papers printed in time for the morning edition," Harry commented, seeing that it mentioned Emrys and Arcana. Naturally, the article was written by Chloe Sullivan.

"I hope you don't mind that Clark told me," Martha said, glancing between him and the paper.

"As long as you can keep it a secret, I don't care," Harry told her with a shrug. "You saw me use magic when I stayed here, so you would have figured it out anyway."

Martha nodded. After dealing with Clark for so many years, she had become rather perceptive to things like that.

"How is Clark doing? Last time we spoke, Raya was helping him locate the Zoners and trying to teach him at the same time."

"They are at the Fortress," Martha told him. "Apparently it is capable of scanning the planet for them, but it's a slow process, especially when they can travel much faster than it can scan. Clark has finally started his training at the Fortress with Jor-El. From what he's told me, Raya has been able to keep Jor-El from pushing Clark too far. I was not sure about her at first, but she understands Clark and has been able to temper Jor-El's attitude towards him. Apparently, the AI in the Fortress is not a perfect copy of Jor-El. Raya says that the AI only captured his intelligence, not his heart."

She seemed to be pleased that Raya was around.

Harry idly wondered what Jor-El would say if he used the Resurrection Stone to summon his spirit. He decided to leave that idea for another day though.

"Since he's busy, I'm going to return to Metropolis then," Harry said, looking at the sun's position. He did need to visit Oliver, so it was not as if he had nothing more he could do.

"Feel free to come by anytime you want," Martha told him. "It was nice having you around."

"I might have to do it. Maybe I'll bring my girlfriend with me next time," Harry said as he made her way to his bike. "Just tell Clark I stopped by to see how he was doing."

With nothing more to say, he started his bike and began to drive back to Metropolis.

* * *

"How's it going, Oliver?" Harry asked as he entered the office. It was only the second time he had been there, but he still thought it was rather simple for the office of the CEO of Queen Industries.

"Harry, I wasn't expecting to see you today," Oliver said, rising to his feet. "But maybe I shouldn't be. Does this have anything to do with _Arcana_?"

"In part," Harry replied, walking towards his ally. He activated his Mage Sight for a split second, allowing him to easily detect the room where Oliver kept his gear. He had noticed that it was far easier to see magic with his Mage Sight, but it was capable of perceiving his surroundings as shades of green. It could not be used to see through walls, but glass was a different matter, even glass that was not completely transparent. "She is willing to join your team and has even given me permission to tell you her identity if you need to know it."

"No offense, but I don't know anything about her," Oliver said. "I did not offer you a place on the team until I knew enough about you to determine that you were a good guy."

"Then pay attention and you'll have the same chance. If anything, she's a better person than I am," Harry told him. From a certain perspective, it was true, even if that was an uncommon perspective. "But that's not the only reason I'm here."

"And what else do you want to talk about?" Oliver asked patiently.

"There are two things. The first is personal business, I guess. I have millions of dollars that I'm not using at the moment. I was hoping you'd have an idea of where I could invest it. I have plans, but it would take more than I have to complete them," Harry explained.

That actually surprised Oliver. "You never struck me as a millionaire. And here I thought I was the only rich guy that spends his nights prowling the streets and fighting crime."

"I inherited over twenty million dollars after my parents and godfather died. I took ten million with me when I left England. The rest is for my godson, his grandmother, and for any kids that I might have at some point," Harry said. "I do not want to just live off of my inherited money all my life, so I was hoping I could use some of my money to invest or buy a business that I didn't have to actually manage."

He chose not to mention the fact that he still had a steady source of income thanks to the only other business he had ever invested in.

"There aren't many businesses that you can buy and just stop worrying about," Oliver said, shaking his head. "There are not many ways to use your money to easily make more money, but I might have a completely different idea. One of the main problems with being a masked vigilante is that you can't exactly go to the hospital if you get shot, stabbed, or anything else of that nature. I don't suppose you have some kind of magical remedy, do you?"

Harry knew exactly what he was talking about. He had actually been shot a couple times and stabbed once while acting as Emrys. He had been able to treat the injuries with his potions, thankfully.

"I actually can make potions. There are potions to restore any blood you lose, to regrow missing bones, to treat shock and trauma, to treat coughs, to treat a cold, and many other things. I can even make potions that will let you take on the form of another person or give you a temporary increase in physical strength. I do have a friend that makes this bruise-removal paste that works almost instantly too."

That actually seemed to surprise Oliver a great deal.

"What would you say if I wanted to buy these potions from you?" Oliver asked. If he was bothered by the idea of drinking potions, he did not show it.

"I'd be willing to do that, but you'd need to use everything exactly as I tell you. You do not want to drink the wrong potion or use too much of it," Harry answered. "I'll also need advanced notice of the potions you want."

"Get me a list of all the potions you can make for me, and I'll be able to tell you what I need and how much," Oliver told him.

Providing potions to Oliver and his team did not sound like a bad deal, especially given that he suspected that he was the only member of that team that was not actually working for Oliver already.

"I'll get the list to you tomorrow. But there is still one matter I want to discuss with you."

With that, Harry pulled out a file and handed it to Oliver.

"What is this?" he asked, flipping through it.

"That's a file that a friend of mine was able to obtain from S.T.A.R. Labs. Apparently, this team you're building isn't the first one of its kind. Another friend of mine is going to figure out what happened to the Justice Society of America, but I need you to see what you can find out about S.T.A.R. Labs, the Green Lantern, Batman, the Angel of Vengeance, and Wonder Woman. You should be able to figure out more than I can. They might be allies in the end, but it's always good to practice constant vigilance."

"I'll see what I can find you," Oliver said, walking over to his desk and copying some information from the file onto a piece of paper. Once he had everything he needed, he returned the file to Harry. "If anything comes up, I'll pay you a visit when you're on patrol. You're not the easiest person to find during the day."

"I'll get a cell phone one day, but I can fry pretty much any electronic unless the right spells have been cast on it," Harry confessed. "I still haven't figured out how Arcana can actually use electronics but I can't."

"Women are generally smarter," Oliver quipped. "I'll have to be careful to keep you away from any expensive electronics until you get that spell down though."

"That might be a good idea," Harry said, slipping the file into his jacket. "I'll be in touch. See you around."

"Yeah, same to you," Oliver said, returning to his desk so he could sit down.

* * *

When Harry arrived back at the warehouse, he was surprised to see that Luna had returned. She was sitting at the desk with a bag in front of her.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, seeing the detached look in her eyes.

She blinked and looked at him once she heard his words. "Of course. I was just thinking."

"Did you find out anything about the Justice Society of America?" Harry asked, walking towards her.

"Yes. Hawkman did not want to talk, but the Star-Spangled Kid told me everything. A government organization known as Checkmate found out about their team and wanted the JSA to work for them. When they refused, Checkmate unmasked the JSA one by one and had them arrested under false pretenses. It led to the disbandment of the JSA. Most of the team is still alive though. The Star-Spangled Kid is actually teaching a girl to succeed him. She's only twelve right now."

Under normal circumstances, he would have assumed it was just another conspiracy theory, but it did not sound as outlandish as some of her other stories.

"What's in the bag then?" Harry asked. He was tempted to use his Mage Sight, but her next words stopped him.

"Another member of the JSA chose me as his successor. It is… overwhelming," Luna said, actually sounding a little nervous. She had always been unflappable, making Harry feel nervous as well.

Carefully, she reached into the bag and removed a golden helmet. Apart from the mane-like ridge at the top of the helmet and the bold eye holes, it looked rather plain. He knew better than to make assumptions based on appearances, however.

Activating his Mage Sight, he saw that the helmet was overflowing with extraordinary power. It was easily one of the most powerful magical objects that he had ever seen. Only the Deathly Hallows and the Veil were greater than it.

"I am the new Doctor Fate," Luna told him with just the slightest bit of apprehension in her voice.

* * *

Author's Note: And that's a wrap.

This chapter wasn't my favorite, but it did get a few things done that I felt were very important.

From the very beginning, or close to it, I planned for Luna to become the next Doctor Fate. That was one reason I had her find the file from S.T.A.R. Labs. She went to speak with Hawkman at JSA Brownstone first, then sought out the Star-Spangled Kid (who is already teaching Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl), and finally encountered Kent Nelson (Doctor Fate). Because of how her mind is, she is one of the only ones capable of handling the mantle of Doctor Fate without losing grip of her sanity. However, the sheer knowledge that Doctor Fate possesses is still overwhelming.

As you can see, this chapter also shows a major change in the timeline for Clark. He only started his training between Season 8 and Season 9 in the series, yet he's already started it in this story before Season 6, Episode 9. He still can't fly, but it'll only be a matter of time.

And Harry starting to sell potions to Oliver and his team... that's something that I originally decided because he actually does need more money for everything he's planned, and it was the easiest option for him. That's not why I kept that idea around though. In the end, it sets up something I have planned and it gives a way for the Justice League, even if they don't use the name yet, to recover from injuries quickly.

On one last note, I previously said that Wonder Woman had been a hero for a few years already. It coincides with the announcement that Princess Diana will be in the Season 11 Smallville comics, but I actually decided to alter things. In Asylum, an episode of Season 3, the newspaper had the headline of "Themyscira Queen Addresses Vatican". So I had planned for her to have become a hero at that time. However, I have since changed my mind. So that's around the time when Themyscira was discovered by the outside world instead. December of 2005 is when Princess Diana took on the role of Wonder Woman in this story now. From what I've seen, she isn't Wonder Woman, according to the Season 11 comics, until around 2011, but I did say this was an AU. It's also interesting to note that Chloe referenced Wonder Woman and Batman in the same episode that she and Oliver got married in Season 10.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing.


	14. Christmas

**13. Christmas**

The weeks that followed actually went better than Harry had expected.

Harry had been worried when Luna sounded so apprehensive about becoming Doctor Fate, but that had changed when he understood what she was worried about. The Helmet of Nabu had driven many insane or caused their minds to fracture, but Luna's mind was different. He knew that Luna's mind could handle anything that was thrown at it. He had practiced Legilimency on her, at her approval. It had given him the single greatest headache that he had ever experienced, and Voldemort had possessed him once.

Whenever she put on the Helmet of Nabu, she gained the suit of Doctor Fate. She had shown Harry a picture of her predecessor suited up, and he had noticed that it had not really changed all that much. She wore a form-fitting suit of padded blue leather that made it clear she was a woman. Her boots, belt, and gloves were made from gold-colored leather. And a round golden amulet held her golden cape in place.

The Helmet of Nabu could possess its wearers, though Luna claimed that the spirit of Nabu simply offered her advice and guidance. After being in her mind, he believed her there. Apart from the one potential downside, Harry could not help but feel a little jealous when she transformed into Doctor Fate. As Doctor Fate, she seemed to have the strength, speed, durability, and flight abilities that J'onn possessed, along with telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, transmutation, precognition, vast magical knowledge, and the ability to use magic wandlessly and non-verbally.

Though Harry had found that his telekinesis was superior to hers and he could actually overpower her spells with the Elder Wand, she still had too many advantages in a fight. It made him thankful that she was a friend.

After becoming Doctor Fate, Luna had actually started going on patrols with Harry and Zatanna. Whereas Harry and Zatanna always worked together, however, Luna had a tendency to work by herself.

With her assistance, they managed to eliminate most of the crime within Suicide Slums. The only gang that still operated in the area was the hardest one to deal with: Intergang. Until they could find a lead on getting to the source of the problem, they had mostly been reactionary, dealing with problems as they arose.

As Christmas had approached, Luna had volunteered to stay behind in Metropolis and make sure that the absence of Emrys and Arcana did not inspire criminals to move their operations back to suicide slums. They knew that they would need to expand their area of operations soon, but they did not want Suicide Slums to regress before they did so.

They had plans to celebrate Christmas with Luna on the twenty-seventh. But in the meantime, Harry and Zatanna were spending Christmas at Grimmauld Place.

In addition to the major successes they had experienced in their crime fighting careers, Harry and Zatanna had found that Oliver was willing to pay quite a bit for potions. Given that Luna was in the process of brewing Veritaserum, they actually needed to get a few more cauldrons if they wanted to keep up with his demand.

It was just after noon on Christmas Eve when they arrived at Grimmauld Place. The portkey dropped them off just a few feet away from the Christmas tree.

"It's good to see you, Harry," Andromeda greeted, walking over and hugging him. She looked at Zatanna curiously. "And who is your friend?"

"This is my girlfriend, Zatanna," Harry told her. "Zee, this is Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother."

"It's nice to meet you, Andromeda," Zatanna greeted with a smile.

"Feel free to call me Andy, Zatanna," Andromeda told her, smiling as well. "I'm glad to hear that Harry has someone to look after him."

"He has a couple of us," Zatanna told her. "Luna and I are around, so there will always be someone to pull him out of the fire."

"Oh, I didn't realize that Luna had tracked him down," Andromeda said, clearly surprised. "You'll have to tell me all about it."

"It can't hurt," Harry said, sharing a look with Zatanna. So with that, he began to tell her everything that had happened since he was last at Grimmauld Place. It had surprised her to hear that Lucius Malfoy had shown up, but apparently he had only spent five years in Azkaban after the war and had disappeared shortly after he got out.

* * *

Christmas Eve was not an eventful day. Harry spent time with Teddy while Andromeda and Zatanna went to Diagon Alley for a few hours to pick up some last minute gifts, and then they all ate dinner together. It would have been far more eventful if more people had come, but Harry was trying to keep his survival a secret from most and Andromeda did not have a very large family anymore.

The only family that she still had was Teddy and Harry. Harry was actually her first cousin, twice removed. Technically, she still had Narcissa, Draco, and several other distant relatives still alive, but she did not like them. Narcissa was tolerable after Lucius disappeared, but she was also very bitter. Draco just wanted to inherit the Black fortune, even though he was nowhere in the line of succession. And the rest of the family only cared about power and wealth.

She had been glad that Bellatrix had died in Azkaban, even if she did confess to wondering who stole her insane sister's corpse.

Honestly, Harry was glad to hear about her death as well. She had been the one to send him through the Veil, after all.

Once everything was done for the night, Harry headed up to his godfather's old room. It was his favorite place to stay in the house, even if only because it made it feel as though Sirius was still around.

It amazed him that the house was always clean. Kreacher had apparently died during his stay in the Phantom Zone, and Andromeda had chosen not to obtain a new house elf afterwards. He could remember Tonks telling him that Andromeda was talented in cleaning charms, but it was still a huge house.

Soft rapping on the door caught Harry attention.

Turning, he saw that Zatanna was leaning against the doorway.

"You know… I seem to be faced with a dilemma," she remarked.

"Maybe I can help," Harry suggested, looking at her curiously. He could not imagine what the problem was. She seemed to get along with Andromeda just fine, and Zatanna had claimed to like the house.

"I think you can," Zatanna agreed, stepping into the room. "You see, I looked around at all the empty rooms, but there's been something missing in every room… except this one. Do you know what it is?"

Harry actually looked surprised by her words. He processed it rather quickly, but he was not sure what to do. If he misunderstood her, she would not be very happy.

"What is it?" he asked as soon as he could.

"You," she answered, shutting the door and making her way over to him. "It is Christmas Eve, and I am staying at your place. It's only right that your girlfriend has a little fun, isn't it?"

His throat felt dry as he heard her speak. There was no way he had misinterpreted her at that point. He just nodded, unable to speak.

**Smut Begins**

She stepped forward and kissed him, putting her hands on the back of his neck.

He kissed her back, putting his hands on her waist. As they kissed, his hand roamed down to her ass. Not having much recent experience in that area, he gave it a tentative squeeze.

"Find something you like?" she asked with a smile as she broke the kiss.

"Definitely," he said running his hands up and down her ass, giving it a squeeze every now and then.

"That's good to hear," she told him. A thought seemed to occur to her suddenly. She glanced back at the door, pointed a finger at it and said, "Muffliato."

The usage of one of his spells made Harry raise an eyebrow.

"When you use something so often, I'm bound to pick it up."

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry began to kiss her neck.

It took considerable effort for him not to make a sound when he felt Zatanna's hand start to rub his cock through his jeans.

She pushed him back, making him sit on the bed. With a seductive smile, she got down on her knees and unzipped his pants. She pulled them down, taking his boxers with them. Her eyes lit up and she saw what he had been hiding.

"Impressive," she said, reaching out and wrapping her hand around his shaft. She began to pump it at an agonizingly slow pace. It had been a couple years since she had been with a man, and she was getting more and more excited with every pump. It was not huge, but he was clearly bigger than average- a fact that made him stand out compared to her past lovers.

She could already feel her juices starting to run down her thighs.

Leaning forward, she gave the head of his cock a lick, continuing to pump as she did so.

"Not bad at all," she said teasingly. She did not give him any time to prepare before she took the head of his cock in her mouth and ran her tongue along it. She began to bob her head at a steady pace, using her tongue to caress the head every time her head went up.

"Fuck," he said under his breath, trying to hold it in. She definitely knew what she was doing. He ran his fingers through her hair as she began to speed up her pace.

His grip on her hair tightened as he lost control, releasing his load in her mouth.

She did not seem bothered in the least, instead swallowing it with a smile.

"Setholc ffo," she said suddenly, causing her shirt to unbutton of its own accord and fall off. Her bra unsnapped and fell to the ground as well. When she rose to her feet, Harry saw that she was completely naked. Her glistening pussy easily caught his attention.

Without needing to be prompted, Harry removed his shirt and pulled his legs free of his jeans and boxers.

Zatanna laid down on the bed in the very center and spread her legs so that he could see her dripping core even better.

"I'm wet enough. You can make love to me another night. For tonight, I just want you to fuck me," Zatanna told him, running her fingers down the lips of her pussy. "I need it."

Harry was not one to argue with a woman in need, especially since he had already recovered. He positioned his cock at her pussy and slowly slid inside her. She was obviously not a virgin, but her walls were still pretty tight.

She let out a quiet moan when he was all the way inside her. She wrapped her legs around his waist and interlocked her fingers with his.

Pushing her hands into the bed to brace himself, Harry pulled back until he was almost out. With a single thrust, he filled her again.

At her urging, he began to go faster and harder. Before long, he was hammering into her and alternating between kissing her neck and her breasts.

He was licking her nipples and fucking her as hard as he could when he felt it. He knew he would not last much longer.

"Zee, I'm going to cum," he warned her.

"Just wait a little longer. I'm almost there," she told him, almost out of breath.

He actually managed to stave it off for a few more minutes, but it was over when he felt her walls suddenly tighten around his cock. With one last thrust, Harry bit Zatanna's neck and release his load deep inside of her.

They juices mixed and pooled on the bed beneath them.

**Smut Ends**

"I needed that," Zatanna said, smiling. She briefly ran her fingers along the bite mark that Harry had left on her neck. She had barely felt it in the heat of passion, and she found that it did not bother her to be marked like that.

"I did too," Harry said, slowly withdrawing from her warmth.

"We'll definitely have to do that again," Zatanna said with a wide smile. "But not tonight. We probably shouldn't be up half the night fucking, especially since your godson might decide to try to wake us up if we sleep too long."

Harry could not disagree there. So instead, he cleaned up the mess with some wandless magic and then laid back down with Zatanna. Before long, the pair fell asleep, still naked and in each other's arms.

* * *

Harry smiled when he woke up next to Zatanna the next morning.

Sparing a glance at his watch, he saw that he needed to get dressed though. Before long, Teddy would be up and ready to open his presents.

Slipping out of the bed, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. He left his glasses on the night stand. They were only needed to help make sure his identity remained secret.

He picked something up off his nightstand after a moment of thought. It was a small stack of papers consisting of everything that he would have needed to get a passport. It had his real name on the papers, along with a note that carried a simple message.

_Just in case you ever change your mind._

_-Kingsley_

He grabbed the stack of papers and put them in his trunk. Part of him missed using his true name. Only the possibility of the wizarding world learning of his survival had stopped him from using it, actually.

But at this point, Harry was caring less and less about anyone finding out that he was alive. It might cause a scandal, but it would not be the worst thing that could happen to him. Harry Potter was actually a very common name, especially in the muggle world. So it was entirely possible that no one would even suspect that he was _the_ Harry Potter.

Before he decided to go so far as to return to his original name, however, it could not hurt to see if his scar could be removed. Honestly, he hated seeing it every day. It was a reminder of his parents' deaths that he could have done without.

He left the room and headed down to the kitchen.

Seeing that he was the only one awake, he started to cook breakfast for everyone.

Just as everything finished cooking, everyone walked into the kitchen.

"I didn't know you cooked," Zatanna remarked, walking over to him and kissing him briefly.

"I'm not bad at it," Harry said, fixing plates for everyone.

"Uncle Harry's the best!" Teddy cheered almost immediately. "Grandma's great, but Uncle Harry is better."

Andromeda just shook her head in amusement while Harry reddened ever so slightly.

Zatanna looked at Harry curiously as though she suspected there was something he was not telling her, but she stayed silent and helped him carry the plates to the table.

After they ate, the four went into the living room and divided the Christmas presents up. Teddy has about a dozen presents, while the others all had four.

Teddy had received gifts from Andromeda, Harry, Zatanna, and the Weasley family. He had been most excited by the toy broom that Harry had asked Andromeda to pick up for him.

Andromeda had received gifts from Harry, Zatanna, and the Weasley family. She received a Weasley sweater and some fudge from Molly, clothes from Zatanna, and jewelry from Harry.

From Zatanna, Harry had been given a magic-proof cell phone and a wand holster that was enchanted to turn invisible when the flap was shut. Andromeda and Teddy had gotten him chocolate frogs and butterbeer.

He was not the only one to receive that from them though. They gave Zatanna the same thing, given that it was a last minute gift since Harry did not tell them he was bringing someone to Christmas with him. And from Harry, Zatanna had been given an Invisibility Cloak and a book on spell creation.

All in all, the gifts were well received.

After they were done opening their presents and Teddy went to play with his broom, Harry went to talk to Andromeda.

"There is one more gift that I have for you," Harry told her, speaking quietly so that Teddy would not overhear. "Well, it could be considered a gift. It's really an offer. You can say no if you want."

"What is it?" Andromeda asked, surprised by the way he was talking.

"If you want, you could move to America," Harry told her. "I would be willing to pay for everything, including a house that puts this place to shame. I wouldn't mind having you guys around so that I could see you more often. I know that you don't have strong ties here anymore either."

Andromeda look conflicted as she considered the idea. She did not reject it out of hand though. "Give me some time to think about it. England has been my home my entire life, and Teddy has friends here. If we move, he'll have to leave them behind, and it's not like I can tell anyone why I'd be moving."

"I can wait," Harry told her. "But the sooner you can get me your answer, the better. It'll take me a little while to get everything set up for you. I can get you a well paying job if you decide to move too."

From what he remembered, Andromeda had great talent in the Mind Arts, in Potions, and in Healing, not to mention a talent in Dark Magic thanks to her family. Having her around would make things quite a bit easier.

"I'll have your answer by the first of the year," Andromeda told him.

That was good enough for him, so Harry started helping her clean up.

The rest of the day was spent simply spending time with each other and having fun.

Scene Break

The next day was pretty busy. Harry and Zatanna had decided to go to Gringotts.

Andromeda and Teddy had planned on going to Shell Cottage and the Burrow, so it seemed like the best time to go.

It took about two hours, but Harry and Zatanna were finally standing before the Flamel's high security vault.

When the goblin opened the vault, Harry was shocked.

Zatanna's single vault made him look poor.

Gold bars were stacked at the back of vault. There were at least a thousand gold bars. And that was not even factoring in how much everything else was worth. He could see a vast pile of galleons, along with at least a dozen trunks in the vault, though he was not sure what was inside them.

"How much gold is that?" Zatanna asked curiously.

"There are two thousand bars of gold, and each one weighs four hundred troy ounces. In scrap value, that is over fifty-three million galleons worth of gold," the cart driver answered in a bored tone. "And the current monetary contents of the vault come out as thirty million galleons."

"I'd like to have all the gold and the galleons converted into American dollars then," Zatanna said, nearly giving the goblin an aneurysm.

"The Flamel vault has been here for centuries. You can't just close it!" the goblin sputtered.

"He has a point," Harry said, finally recovering. "Maybe you should leave a few million galleons just in case of an emergency." If her assets were ever seized in the future, being able to access thirty million galleons could come in handy.

"You're right," Zatanna admitted, thinking of the possibilities. "In that case, I want seven hundred and fifty million American dollars after the bank fees. The rest of the money can stay in the vault."

It was still hard for Harry to grasp that she was taking out so much more money that he had even owned. And when it came right down to it, Oliver Queen and Lex Luthor were so rich that it would not have even made them bat an eye.

"While we're at it, I want to have all but one hundred thousand galleons removed from the Potter vault and converted to American dollars," Harry said. He had actually seen his balance while they waited for Zatanna to complete the inheritance test. It was hard to believe, but Weasley's Wizards Wheezes had actually given him one and a half million galleons in profits since he last spoke with George. "On second thought, I want it all withdrawn as galleons."

An idea had just come to him.

* * *

After leaving Gringotts, they had made a few stops.

Perhaps the most important stop had been the largest apothecary in Diagon Alley. They had actually bought every single potion ingredient that they place had in stock, along with two Animagus Revealing Potions.

The next stop had been to a shop that sold a little of everything. From there, they each bought a nice seven compartment trunk. In addition to that, they had found a pair of full-sized Vanishing Cabinets and a magic tent like he had used at the World Quidditch Cup and during the Horcrux Hunt.

Their final stop in Diagon Alley had been George's shop. Harry only bought some more Bruise Removal Paste from there, and all of the tubes of it were for Oliver. He still had quite a few galleons left over, but he did not keep them. He gave them to George as an investment and encouraged him to finally buy the branch of Zonko's that was located in Hogsmeade. He also suggested opening a shop in the muggle world that only dealt with non-magical prank items and muggle magic tricks. If everything worked out, Harry would get his investment back and more, even if it took a couple years.

When the returned to Grimmauld Place, they began to pack so that they could return to Metropolis after dinner. It would actually be earlier when they arrived than when they left thanks to the six hour time difference. Zatanna had not gone through the trunks that she inherited from the Flamel vault yet, so they did not plain on wasting the six hours they would gain when they returned.

"It's too bad we can't stay around a little longer. It's been pretty nice so far," Zatanna remarked as they finished packing.

"It has," Harry admitted. It had been very nice to spend some time with Andromeda and Teddy, along with seeing George a little. "But I might as well be Emrys while I'm here. I might not wear a mask here, but I have to hide who I am anytime I leave the house."

"That's true," Zatanna conceded. "Do you ever think about going back to your original identity?"

"I will eventually," Harry told her. He had forgotten how much he enjoyed being himself until he started spending time with Zatanna. "We're supposed to open presents with Luna tomorrow anyways, so we couldn't stay here more than a few more hours."

"What did you get her?" Zatanna asked curiously.

"Luna's always been hard to get gifts for. She doesn't care about material things that much. So instead of getting her something that she may or may not like, I decided to give her something a bit more unorthodox," Harry said, tapping the side of his head. "My memories. She's always wanted to see my adventures, so I am giving her copies of my memories from my first three years of Hogwarts."

"That's an incredible idea," Zatanna said, imagining what it would be like. She had never used a pensieve before, even though she was dating someone that had one.

"What about you?" Harry asked, curious as to what she had gotten Luna for Christmas.

"I am going to grant her wish," Zatanna told him. She only seemed to realize that he did not know about her ability when a look of confusion appeared on his face. "I have the power to grant any wish, big or small. Whatever is wished for in the moment is made a reality. I can't grant my own wish, but that seems to be the only limitation."

That was a rather interesting ability in Harry's opinion, though he saw how it could cause problems at the same time.

"I'm not sure what she would wish for," Harry said. "Are you sure it's a good idea to make any wish of hers come true?"

"If it was any other ex-girlfriend of yours, I wouldn't even consider it," Zatanna admitted. "However, Luna is my friend, and I believe that she is trustworthy. She's the last person who would abuse this gift."

On that, Harry could not disagree with Zatanna.

* * *

When Harry arrived at the warehouse the next morning, he saw that Zatanna was sleeping on the sofa with one of her books in her arms.

After they ate dinner with Andromeda and Teddy the previous night, they had returned to Metropolis. Harry had spent most of the night putting potion ingredients up and unpacking his stuff.

Zatanna, on the other hand, had opted not to unpack anything other than the dozen trunks that she had received in the Flamel vault. She had been too eager to leave them for another day.

Two of the chests had contained nothing but alchemy equipment. The third one contained different forms of Dark Detectors, along with an ornate pensieve that was easily large enough for two or three people to use at once. The fourth and fifth trunks contained an extensive collection of books on runes and warding. The sixth, seventh, and eighth trunks carried an extensive collection of books on alchemy. The ninth one contained Flamel's notes on alchemy. And the last trunk contained a collection of books on the Dark Arts. Why those specific books were there was unknown, but those were the books that Zatanna had inherited.

Zatanna had not yet started reading the books on alchemy or the Dark Arts, but she had been excited to read the books on runes and warding.

"Zee, you might want to wake up," Harry said, placing a hand on her arm and shaking her awake.

She jumped up the moment she woke up and blushed when she realized what was going on and how she looked.

"You might want to get changed or something," Harry told her. "Luna will probably be here before too long."

"Right," Zatanna said with a nod. She teleported back to her place to do just that.

"I swear," he said, shaking his head in amusement. He put her book on top of one of her trunks and headed down to the lab so that he could retrieve the memories for Luna.

When he went back up to the ground floor, Harry saw that Luna and Zatanna were already there. Sometimes he forgot that magic could help a girl change in an instant.

"How was everything while we were gone?" Harry asked, walking over to Luna.

"It was quiet," Luna told him. "The newspapers think you're retiring now that I'm around though."

"Maybe we should have taken you to London with us. Then they'd be saying that we abandoned the city or something," Harry said, laughing softly. The idea seemed to amuse Luna as well. Harry had plenty of experience with bad press, even if Zatanna was unaware of that part of his life. "Well, here's my gift, Luna."

As he spoke, he handed the vials to her.

"Those vials contain my memories of the Philosopher's Stone incident, the Chamber of Secrets incident, and the Sirius incident in third year."

"Thank you!" Luna said, hugging him in excitement. "I can't wait to see them!"

She had heard a great deal about those adventures over the years, but only Harry had the full memories. Unfortunately, he had not been willing to let anyone see his memories before he disappeared.

"And I have a gift for you to, but it isn't a material gift," Zatanna told her, catching Luna's undivided attention. "I have the ability to grant a single wish. Whatever you wish for in the moment that I use my magic will be yours. I cannot reverse it after the wish is granted either. The only way for the wish to be reversed is for you to no longer want it, so choose carefully.

Luna nodded her head, growing deep in thought. After a moment, she said, "I'm ready."

Zatanna took a deep breath and allowed her magic to do the work.

Before their eyes, a light engulfed Luna. When it faded, they were surprised to see how Luna had changed.

Luna looked exactly like she had when Harry had disappeared. Physically, she was now eighteen years old.

"You wished to be my age?" Harry asked, looking at her in surprise.

"It bothered me, seeing how much I had changed when you had not. Physically, at least," Luna explained, her voice low. He had never seen her be anything but confident and self-assured outside of when she first became Doctor Fate. "It's not much of a difference, but it just feels right."

Honestly, Harry did not have an issue with her using her wish in such a way. He had expected her to want to be able to see nargles and other normally invisible magical creatures without assistance, but girls often had a tendency to wish that they could look younger, so it was not that strange of a wish.

"Now I'm the oldest one here again," Zatanna remarked. Luna was physically eighteen, and Harry was physically nineteen. Zatanna was twenty-three years old, on the other hand, even if she could pass for twenty or twenty-one without a problem.

"You still look great," Harry reassured her, earning a playful slap on the arm from his girlfriend.

"I have to give you two my gift then," Luna said, removing a small object from her pocket. It suddenly expanded, causing Zatanna's eyes to widen.

"That's the Book of Zatara! It has been passed down the Zatara line ever since we stopped using wands. When my father died, Lex Luthor bought the book at auction," Zatanna said, carefully taking the book from Luna.

"It wasn't his, and it's much too dangerous of a book to leave in his hands," Luna told her with a smile.

"Thank you so much," Zatanna said, pulling the book close.

Luna nodded before she turned to Harry. Once again, she removed something from her pocket and expanded it using wandless magic. This time, it was a cupboard though.

Harry had actually seen its shrunken form before.

Walking over to it, he opened the cupboard.

Inside, he found seven new suits.

The cupboard was filled with green dragonskin boots, black jeans, green dragonskin belts with a buckle in the shape of the mark of the Deathly Hallows,, black long-sleeve shirts with the mark of the Deathly Hallows in dark green, thin black gloves that only extended a couple inches past his wrists, green dragonskin dusters, and black masks that looked identical to his previous ones.

"The dragonskin comes from a Romanian Longhorn," Luna told him.

He had wondered why the leather was a darker green than the common green dragonskin. The Welsh Green was the most common type of dragon in England, but he had not cared been a huge fan of that shade of green.

The shirt, gloves, and mask were clearly made of acromantula silk, though the jeans were muggle made. A brief look with his Mage Sight revealed that the jeans were enchanted for durability and comfort.

His Mage Sight revealed something more interesting than that though. He had not noticed two other objects inside the cupboard until he had activated it.

Apparently, Luna had disillusioned a staff and placed it inside the cupboard. He dispelled the Disllusionment Charm and removed the staff from the cupboard. It was about six feet long and made of solid metal. Runes had been inscribed into the otherwise plain staff.

He noticed that grabbing the staff did not produce a spark or rush of power like grabbing one of his wands or his other staff did.

"It's goblin-made," Luna said, earning a surprised look from Harry. "It carries no core and instead uses the runes to channel magic. The runes also allow it to channel the magic of a leyline."

Harry could not believe that she had given him a goblin-made item, but the knowledge that it was a _true_ staff, unlike the one Ollivander made, was even more shocking.

"And what about the ring?" Harry asked.

"It's goblin-made too. There are three sets of runes on it. The first makes it unbreakable. The second makes it absorb excess magic in the air, which will stop you from accidentally frying electronics. And the third produces a ward that repels anything above a certain velocity. It will actually stop anything from getting within two feet of you using super speed. Small objects like bullets won't be affected by the ward, but it was made to protect you from super speed, not simply fast objects," Luna explained.

He picked up the ring and saw that it had a place that would fit the Resurrection Stone perfectly.

"I give you three memories, and you give me things that are worth a fortune. It's not all that fair," Harry pointed out.

"Life isn't fair," Luna said with a smile. "There is one more thing I want to give you though."

Zatanna looked unsure how to feel about the situation, but she kept her mouth closed and watched.

"Nabu predates the Deathly Hallows by a long time," Luna said, walking to the table and retrieving Doctor Fate's helmet. "But one of my predecessors knew about them and had a theory. I saw a vision that confirmed it too. The true power of the Deathly Hallows can't be unlocked until they are united."

"But they are united," Harry pointed out.

"They are together as three. They are not united as one," Luna said, holding the helmet as if she was preparing to put it on. "They can be fused as one. In my vision, the Resurrection Stone was on the ring that I just gave you, but you used the ring to turn invisible and cast spells. The Deathly Hallows were fused."

Harry had come to believe that he had mastered the Elder Wand due to his ability to overpower Luna's spells when she wore the Helmet of Nabu. If, however, she told the truth, then he had only seen a little of what he could do. Fusing the Deathly Hallows as one… it would have to make them all stronger.

One by one, Harry removed the Deathly Hallows and placed them on the floor. He had to remove the Resurrection Stone from the other ring that he had, but it was not hard to do.

"If you can do it, then feel free," he told her.

In response, Luna brought the helmet near her face. As always, the helmet assisted her in putting it on and the garb of Doctor Fate was present.

"Are you sure you wish for me to do this?" Luna asked. "Once done, it cannot be undone."

When Harry nodded, she walked over to the Deathly Hallows and held a single hand over them. The most brilliant light that he had ever seen engulfed the three magical objects.

A moment later, the light died and revealed the end result.

The Resurrection Stone was the only thing there. It looked like the Resurrection Stone, at least. The mark of the Deathly Hallows within the black stone was actually easily visible. The mark was now the same color as his eyes.

Reaching down, he picked the stone up and placed it in his hand.

"Think about what you want it to do," Luna said, still wearing the Helmet of Nabu.

With a single thought, Harry became invisible.

Only the surprised expression on Zatanna's face told him that something was different. Her eyes did not follow him when he walked around the room either.

It was strange to think that the stone in his hand was capable of turning him invisible, whereas the cloak could only turn whatever was inside it invisible.

Closing his eyes, he thought about becoming visible.

The mark on the stone glowed as the cloak's power receded into the stone.

"It appears that it was successful," Luna remarked, receiging a nod of agreement from Zatanna.

Harry put the ring on his right hand and placed the stone on the ring. He cast a non-verbal Permanent Sticking Charm once it was in place. He used the stone as a focus when he did it too.

"I think you're right," Harry said, extending his hand towards his new staff. The mark on the stone glowed before the staff flew to his hand. The sensation that filled him when he used the ring as a focus was far more intense than when he used the Elder Wand. It was as if it was perfect.

He tossed the staff to his other hand and the mark glowed again. A Switching Spell allowed him to change into his new suit without Zatanna or Luna even realizing what he had done at first. His first thought was that the suit was very comfortable. He noticed that the gloves were thin enough that his ring could be worn over them without any issues.

"Okay, that was pretty awesome," Zatanna admitted. "But maybe we should wait to test it out later."

She did have a point, so Harry switched back into his regular clothes.

"I'm glad it worked," Luna said, placing the Helmet of Nabu on the table. "I was not certain my fusion spell would work, but it appears to have worked flawlessly."

"You made that spell?" Zatanna asked in surprise.

"That was her mother's profession. From what I've seen, she inherited some of her talent," Harry said, earning a smile from Luna.

"So if you were the Master of Death before, then what are you now?" Zatanna asked suddenly.

"Actually, I think I just now became the _Master of Death_," Harry said, thinking about the new power that he possessed. Granted, he still knew that the title did not make him greater than or immune to Death, but he had only felt truly powerful after the Deathly Hallows were united.

Luna simply nodded her head in agreement, great conviction in her eyes.

* * *

Author's Note: I can't deny that I'm glad to have finished this chapter. It was one of the more difficult chapters I've worked on.

When I first wrote it, it was the most disjointed chapter I had ever written. None of the scenes fit together well. So I had to alter quite a bit to get it to work. I believe that the end result worked out fairly well though.

Probably the first thing about the chapter that people noticed was the sex scene. It was the first important thing that happened in the chapter. Harry and Zatanna did kiss for the first time two chapters ago, so it might seem too soon. But I don't think it was too soon. They've been going out for nearly three weeks, they know each other very well (though Harry hasn't mentioned his childhood), and they've both gone years without a partner. And while I could have hinted at it and just faded to black, I really wanted to write the scene. It's the first sex scene I've written in years, but I think it came out fairly well.

The next thing that people probably noticed was my tendency to make my characters rich. It really is a habit of mine, though Harry should have been rich from the start and Zatanna is the descendent of a man who could make his own gold, so it's not like it's actually just me making them rich just because I can.

And the last thing I expect that people noticed was the final scene of the story. It was perhaps the most important scene of the whole chapter. Harry obtained one of the last suits he will wear (though the others should follow the same design as it), Zatanna was given her father's book back (which was the focus of her debut episode, Hex), and Harry was essentially upgraded. The idea to fuse the Hallows actually came from Garm88. I originally rejected the idea, but I grew to like it as time went on. Overall, I felt that what Harry gained in that scene was enough to make him strong enough to deal with the threats that would have normally destroyed him as if he was a bug.

I think that's about all that I wanted to say. So thanks for reading and reviewing.


	15. Justice

**14. Justice**

"Whiners," Harry muttered as he tossed the newspaper in the trash.

It was two weeks into the new year, but it had not begun on a completely happy note.

After returning to action as Emrys, Harry had expanded his area of operation. He could have eventually freed Suicide Slums of crimes, but with every passing day, he had seen that more crimes were being committed throughout the rest of Metropolis.

Luna continued to stop muggings, theft, drug deals, and other such crimes in Suicide Slums as Doctor Fate, but it quickly became clear that the criminals could more easily commit crimes during the day since none of the vigilantes in Metropolis were active during the day.

When Harry actually started to deal with criminals outside of Suicide Slums, people began to speak out against him. Politicians, wealthy business owners, and even a District Attorney had said that he was not needed and was just as bad of a criminal as the people he took down were.

The Daily Planet liked to run articles based on the arguments against him, but he noticed that the actual Metropolis Police Department never once complained about him and the writers at the Planet always maintained a pro-Emrys stance, even if it was not very noticeable.

He had no doubt that at least someone of the people that spoke out against him would be making the exact opposite complaints if he had stopped fighting crime.

He did not fail to notice that only Emrys and occasionally Arcana were mentioned in the complaints. As long as Doctor Fate remained active in Suicide Slums only, she was mostly ignored.

"People will complain about anything," Zatanna agreed, reading her father's book on the sofa. She had actually ended up taking off work for a little while so that she could study the book and learn more about magic. While it only meant that she had two nights a week free, it was more than enough. She no longer had to worry about being too exhausted to perform on stage after a rough night as Arcana.

The pair's relationship had been moving along rather well. They were not ready to move in together or get married, but they spent more time together than most couples and had a tendency to spend at least two nights together a week.

Their relationship was not the only thing that had gone rather well.

Oliver had managed to find out all about S.T.A.R. Labs, even though their projects were still unknown. All he had been able to figure out about Wonder Woman, Batman, and the Green Lantern was what they already knew. He did, however, learn that the Angel of Vengeance had attempted to kill Lionel Luthor before she disappeared from Metropolis last year. She had been laying low since then, but she had been spotted in Metropolis once recently. She seemed to disappear after that though.

Oliver had also purchased quite a few potions from them recently. So far, they had already made over a hundred grand for the month.

There was something else that he found himself thinking about more often, however.

He had offered Andromeda and Teddy a chance to come and live in the States with him. On New Year's Day, Andromeda had accepted the offer. However, she wanted to wait until after Teddy's birthday. He had not expected her to move suddenly and on short notice, so waiting until April sounded like a good idea to him. Plus, it gave him time to get everything ready.

Even with everything going on, Harry did not neglect his training at all. He had used the united Deathly Hallows, or the Hallow as Zatanna called it, to summon the spirit of Sirius Black, his godfather. When it came right down to it, Sirius was an animagus while Dumbledore was not. When it turned out that Harry had the potential to become a phoenix animagus, he thought another animagus would be better than someone that was simply a master of transfiguration.

It was still a work in progress, but it could take years for most people to become an animagus.

He had noticed that since he began the process, he seemed to gain an affinity for fire-based magic though.

"So how are the plans going for the Sanctum?" Zatanna asked curiously.

"The plans are complete," he told her with a smile. "I was just about to go out and see if I can find a good place for it."

Before he could say anything else, his phone began to ring, playing the Imperial March from Star Wars.

"Green Arrow?" Zatanna asked.

"Green Arrow," Harry replied. He removed the phone from his pocket and answered it. "What do you need?"

"Come by my office and bring your companions. There's been an incident."

And just like that, Oliver hung up.

"We're needed," he told her, looking at his ring. His clothes were instantly replaced with his newest suit. He was not the only one either. Zatanna's clothes were replaced with her suit, courtesty of a Switching Spell from Harry.

"Luna, Green Arrow needs us!" Harry called out. She was down in the lab with the potions.

"I'll meet you there," Luna called out in return.

Zatanna placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and nodded.

The mark of the Deathly Hallows glowed twice, turning them invisible using the Invisibility Cloak's power and then apparating them using the Elder Wand's power.

* * *

Upon arriving at Oliver's office and seeing that it was just him there, Harry made the cloak's power recede until the only thing that was invisible was his ring. It was not really necessary, but it was nice to be able to make his ring invisible when he did not want anyone to notice.

"You're really good at doing that silently now," Oliver said, shaking his head. "But I didn't call you here to go over your parlor tricks. There have been complications."

"Complications in one of your team's projects?" Harry asked with a hint of sarcasm. While Oliver had actually accepted him, Zatanna, and Luna onto his team, their positions were not as firm as the original members of the team. Oliver had admitted that they were more or less members in name only and would not be called upon unless there was an emergency. It was only because of Harry and Zatanna's constant need to patrol Metropolis that they had accepted the position without arguing.

From what Harry had learned about Oliver's team, they were still rather small time. They had mostly been harassing Luthorcorp facilities thus far.

"Well yeah," Oliver said awkwardly.

Before he could say anything further, the door to the office began to open and Clark Kent walked in.

"Oliver!" Clark said in an urgent tone. He came to something of a halt when he saw Harry and Zatanna. So far, Harry had not introduced Zatanna to Clark or vice versa. In fact, neither knew anything about the other. It was the only way for him to keep their secrets without worrying about a slip.

"Clark, I don't know what's got your tighty-whities in a bunch, but now's not the time," Oliver told him, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I know about Bart. I saw his phone records. I know he's working for you," Clark said, not being deterred by the presence of the masked vigilantes or Oliver's words.

"Not for me," Oliver corrected. "He's working with me. There's a difference."

"It won't matter when he ends up in jail, or worse," Clark argued.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Oliver said, shaking his head.

"I know how much you hate Lex. Is that why you recruited Bart? To help with your vendetta?" Clark asked.

"No. To stop 33.1," Oliver told him flatly.

"You know about 33.1?" Clark asked with a shocked look on his face.

Harry and Zatanna shared a look. They had never heard of 33.1 before.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were up to?" Clark asked when it did not appear that Oliver was going to speak.

"Clark, do you check in with me every time you run off to save the world?" Oliver countered. "That's right. I forgot. You like to wait for trouble to show up on your doorstep."

"That's not true," Clark said firmly.

"Then why haven't you done anything to stop 33.1?" Oliver asked.

"I've been busy with another problem," Clark told him. He was not about to mention the fact that he was undergoing Kryptonian training as well.

"What could be more urgent than Lex Luthor developing an army of super freaks, Clark?" Oliver asked dryly. "That's what he's doing. Starting a war."

"And this is where I'm going to interrupt," Harry suddenly said. "Clark, you should try to be more understanding about being left out of the loop considering the life you've lived. And Oliver, this _33.1_ is not any more urgent than the problem Clark's been dealing with. What he's doing is just as important. But I have a bone to pick with you now. You ask me to join your team, only to tell me a month later that I'm not actually a full member of the team. And then, you decide not to mention a threat like this to me, even after I personally gave you the number to my cell phone at the beginning of the month. I'd say that something this big should be mentioned to every member, not just your full-time lackeys."

Oliver sighed, but he did not try to argue. "I should have told you about it. There's no excuse. Even if I wasn't going to take you and your companions on a mission, you should have been informed."

Clark looked a little curious as to what was going on, but he instead asked, "What do you know so far?"

"Not enough," Oliver admitted. "Last night, Bart was supposed to infiltrate the facility that was supposed to house the mainframe for 33.1. That's the last time I heard from him. I paid a visit to the place this morning and found that it was stripped clean. The whole thing was a set-up."

"Lex has Bart then. We need to find him," Clark said.

"My team is already on it," Oliver said, nodding towards the glass door where his equipment was stored.

Harry, Zatanna, and Clark turned just in time to see two individuals walk through the glass doors. One was a dark-skinned male around Clark's age with short black hair. The other was a light-skinned male around the same age with short blond hair.

"Not everybody flies solo, Kent," the first individual said.

"Victor and A.C., what are you guys doing here?" Clark asked, revealing to Harry that Clark evidently knew Oliver and three members of his team on a first name basis.

"We're Oliver's team," A.C. said, looking at Harry and Zatanna. "You two must be the reserve members that Oliver recruited. Isn't there supposed to be a third one?"

"Is that what he's calling us?" Zatanna asked, unamused. "But to answer your question, we do have another companion. She is well known in Metropolis as Doctor Fate. She will be here as soon as she can."

"I wasn't trying to offend you," A.C. said, raising his heads in defense. "That's just what Oliver called you three."

"When did you guys join?" Clark asked, looking from Victor to A.C.

"I joined up about six months ago. Ollie and Bart had already been doing their thing," Victor answered, looking somewhat relieved at the change in conversation.

"What about your girlfriend, Katherine?" Clark asked curiously.

"Dude, don't even go there," A.C. told him, shaking his head.

"She gave it her best shot," Victor said sadly. "But with all this hardware in me…."

"I'm sorry, Victor," Clark said in a sincere tone.

"When Ollie found me, I was living on the streets. He gave me a warm meal, a roof over my head, and a reason to go on living," Victor told him before he walked off, deep in thought.

Oliver actually looked surprised. "Did he just say something nice about me?"

"Maybe he's starting to rust," A.C. joked.

"A.C., how'd you fall into all this?" Clark asked, leaving Harry and Zatanna wondering what A.C.'s joke meant. They were mostly staying silent due to the fact that they did not know what was really going on.

"Got into a little trouble trying to sink a whaler off the coast of Japan," A.C. replied in a casual voice.

"A little trouble? That's what you're going with?" Victor asked in amusement. "Ollie had to save your scaly butt from getting filleted."

"I would have gotten out of it," A.C. said with a short, embarrassed laugh.

"Really? Before or after they packed you into a thousand little tin cans?" Oliver quipped.

"Well, at least he would have been dolphin safe," Victor commented, maintaining a serious façade.

"Fish jokes… all I ever get are fish jokes," A.C. muttered under his breath. "So how's Lois doing? Is she alright?"

"Uh, you'd have to ask your boss," Clark said, giving a pointed look at Oliver.

"Now's not really the time," Oliver said, straightening up. "We need to focus on locating Bart."

"And how exactly did you get him involved in this? He's never been much of a team player," Clark asked.

"Looks like you two have something in common, huh?" Oliver suggested. "Actually, I was out on patrol in Star City one night and I came across Bart. He was helping himself to a free meal. I could tell he was a good kid. He just needed a little direction, so I offered him a job."

"Look where that got him," Clark retorted.

A.C. and Victor did not look too thrilled to hear Clark talk about their team like that, but they did not say anything.

"I underestimated Lex," Oliver admitted. "It won't happen again. I've compiled a list of all LuthorCorp holdings in a hundred mile radius. Bart could be held in any one of those facilities." A map with marked facilities came up on one of the screens that Oliver kept in his office.

"It's a lot of real estate to cover," Victor remarked.

"I think I know someone who can help us narrow it down," Clark said as an idea came to him.

He super sped away before they could respond.

"He isn't a team player," Zatanna remarked. "Not at all."

Harry could not disagree with her there. Given that he spent time around another Kryptonian and was undergoing training at the Fortress of Solitude, Harry had expected him to be a little more willing to cooperate.

Before anyone could say anything else, Luna teleported next to Harry, clad in the garbs of Doctor Fate.

"I apologize for my tardiness," she said. Though the spirit of Nabu could not actually possess her, Harry had noticed that she had a tendency to actually speak completely normal all the time. While she donned the helmet, at least.

"Go ahead," Harry told her, concentrating carefully.

He felt Luna enter his mind and go over what had just happened. His Occlumency shields stopped her from seeing anything else, but it was enough.

Once she withdrew from his mind, she said, "He will be going on his own. I do not yet have control over my ability to foresee the future, but I did see a glimpse of everyone here leaving to rescue Bart. Clark Kent was not with us."

"That's pretty freaky," Victor said, staring at Luna in surprise.

"Ironically, Oliver chose to make us _reserve members_, despite the fact that we're the only magic users he knows and we are the ones that supply you guys with potions," Harry commented. He was not surprised to hear that Clark was going to rush off on his own. He had a tendency to be rash, after all.

"So those new types of medicine you've been giving us when we got injured were actually magic potions?" Victor asked, looking at Oliver with a raised eyebrow.

"I guess that explains why they work so well," A.C. remarked.

"I admit that it wasn't my greatest idea," Oliver conceded.

"To be honest, I wouldn't have cared if you had asked me if I was willing to join as a reserve member," Harry said, making Oliver's eye twitch. "But if I'm going to be a reserve member, you have to keep me informed. If not, I'll seek out the remnants of the JSA and try to put it back together."

Oliver had the distinct impression that he was not bluffing, especially since the previous Doctor Fate was apparently one of the top ranked members of the JSA.

Victor and A.C. looked curious about the direction that the conversation had started to go down, but Oliver's words stopped them from asking.

"I will make sure to keep you informed, and I will let you choose if you want to remain reserve members or become full members," Oliver promised. "But we can leave that for later. We should probably go over our codenames first. We'll have communicators so that we can keep in contact on this mission."

He went over to his desk and remove ear pieces from it. He handed one to each of them with the sole exception of Luna, who shook her head.

"My helmet would interfere. I will know what to do, however," Luna told him.

"Green Arrow is online," Oliver said, pressing the button on his ear piece.

"Cyborg is online," Victor said, doing the same.

"Aquaman is online," A.C. said.

"Arcana is online."

"Emrys is online."

"And Doctor Fate is ready," Luna said.

"Bart is Impulse, and let's call Clark _Boyscout_," Oliver said, smiling at the little joke.

His computer suddenly beeped, catching his attention.

"Step into the other room and I'll take care of this," he told them.

As soon as they were in the next room, Harry could hear someone say, "Mr. Queen, this is Chloe Sullivan. Clark sent me."

"Where did he go?" Oliver asked, hearing that Luna was correct.

"He went to go save Bart," she answered, making Oliver and Victor sigh in unison.

"He told you about Bart?" Oliver asked, shaking his head.

"Clark and I tell each other everything. Well, almost everything. I did have to find out about your green leather fetish on my lonesome." Seeing the look on his face, she added, "Don't worry, I didn't say anything to Lois, though you might want to consider..."

"Let's get to reason you're here, sidekick," Oliver said, cutting her off. "What have you got?"

"Hopefully a solid lead on Bart. Where are Victor, A.C., and Harry?" she asked, looking around.

"Guess we're not that good at the whole _secret_ part of this," Victor said dryly as they stepped back into the room.

"Yeah, but you're great at getting caught by the villain," Chloe remarked. She then spotted someone that she had not noticed originally. "He didn't mention that you were here, Arcana." Zatanna's identity was still completely unknown to everyone in the room other than Oliver and her friends, though Chloe had met her as Arcana before. Chloe had never met Luna or Doctor Fate, on the other hand.

"Anyway, I think Bart is being held at a place called _the Ridge Facility_," Chloe told them.

"That's down by the docks," A.C. said.

"And it's on our list of possible 33.1 targets," Oliver said, moving over to the computer. He brought up the schematics of the facility within a matter of moments. "Alright boys, you know the drill. Let's gear up and get out."

"Oh no," Chloe said, moving closer to the screen.

"What now?" Oliver asked, concerned.

"Lead shielding… I think the Ridge Facility is being used to refine meteor rock. Clark's in trouble," Chloe told them, earning a groan from Harry. There just had to be Kryptonite at the facility that Clark decided to visit by himself.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they were suited up and outside of the facility. Chloe had stayed behind and was going to be helping them in a guidance role as _Watchtower_.

Harry, Zatanna, and Luna could have actually arrived at the facility in an instant, but Cyborg was not magic proof, so they were a little skeptical about teleporting him there as he was. In the end, Harry and Zatanna traveled with the others, while Luna teleported to the facility by herself so that she could take a look at its outer defenses.

Harry watched as Oliver took down a few guards with a form of sleep gas that was carried by an arrow.

"Pretty neat, isn't it?" Oliver asked.

"I could have turned invisible and walked right next to them without being detected," Harry told him. "But yeah, it was pretty neat for a guy that doesn't have powers."

Oliver grumbled a little, but a slight smile could be seen even as he did it.

"Green Arrow to Watchtower, we're in position," Oliver suddenly said, speaking through the communicator.

Harry mostly ignored what Chloe said, given how he did not understand all the technical talk.

Zatanna seemed to understand to an extent, but it did not appear to interest her at all.

Luna had gone with A.C. to enter the facility another way, so he had no idea what was going through her mind at the moment.

"Perimeter security is neutralized," Oliver said a few minutes later. "Aquaman, you're up."

"Perimeter breached. Proceeding to target," A.C.'s voice came through the ear piece.

The four immediately began to make their way inside the facility from their end, trusting in A.C. and Luna to do what they needed to do.

Victor moved towards the door first and emitted some kind of sonic blast from his hands, taking the door off its hinges.

"Watchtower, guide Emrys and Arcana to Boyscout. We're going to do what we do best in the meantime," Oliver said, surprising Chloe.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Positive. We've still got a mission to complete," Oliver said, giving Harry a nod. "Once they've found Boyscout, they can get Impulse out. I'll buy them some time."

As Chloe gave Harry the directions, he rushed towards his destination with Zatanna at his side.

They encountered a few guards, but Harry's Mage Sight gave him enough warning that he was able to grab Zatanna and turn them both invisible before they saw him.

It only took a couple minutes to reach Clark. When they did, they saw he was in the doorway of a room that held processed Kryptonite. There was actually a guard between them and Clark with a gun pointed at the Kryptonian.

"Portus," Harry intoned.

The guard spun around as the spell turned his gun into a portkey. It would activate if a single word was spoken by the one who held it.

"What-" the guard began, only for the portkey to activate.

"Where did you send him?" Zatanna asked quietly.

"The rooftop of LuthorCorp's headquarters," Harry answered as he reached his hand out to Clark. He was careful not to bring his staff too close to the room. Goblin steel took in only that which made it stronger, and he had a suspicion that the radiation that Kryptonite produced would have made it stronger in a way.

He pulled Clark out of the doorway with his telekinesis and then shut the door with it.

"I'm alright," Clark said once the door shut. He slowly rose to his feet but looked like he had mostly recovered already.

"Boyscout is out of the woods," Harry said through the communicator. "Watchtower, direct us to Impulse's location."

"On it," Chloe said.

Once she gave Harry the first set of directions, the group made their way towards where Bart was being held.

"Boyscout?" Clark asked after a minute.

"Don't run off half-cocked and you can pick your own code name next time," Harry told him. His Mage Sight was once again active, preventing anyone from sneaking up on him.

"Point taken," Clark conceded. "I'm just not used to working with others."

"Not even Raya?" Harry countered.

"Raya spends most of her time at the Fortress, accessing the archives and arguing with Jor-El. My training with Jor-El is not about working with a team but as an individual," Clark explained. "Raya isn't the hero type from what she says. She's more interested in trying to help me and recreate some Kryptonian technology than she is in helping people."

"So can you fly yet?" Harry asked curiously.

"Not for long. I can fly for a few seconds, but I always come back down," Clark admitted.

"Well, if you really want to work alone, then you might want to try to figure out how to fly. It's a useful ability," Harry remarked. "It won't make up for working alone, but it'll be a great advantage all the same."

"You talk as if you can fly," Clark noted.

"Not yet," Harry said with a grin.

That was all that was said for the moment.

Harry rushed forward towards two metal doors.

"Leets nrut ot dnas," Zatanna intoned, transmuting the doors before them into sand.

Harry leapt over the piles of sand and thrust his arms out to his sides.

The four guards that were waiting in the room were thrown against the walls to his left and right in a single instant.

"Hsinav," Zatanna said, pointing at the cell towards the back of the room with glass walls surrounding it.

They could see a red blur running around the cell in circles.

As the glass that surrounded the cell vanished, Clark rushed forward and pulled Bart out of the cell. Electricity could be seen flowing through the metal floor of the cell.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked.

"I owe you one," Bart said, breathing heavily with a bloody nose.

"Take a drink," Harry said, removing a glass vial from his belt and handing it to Bart.

Without even asking, Bart drank it.

He rose to his feet, full of energy.

"Invigoration Draught… it restores a person's energy. After running for Merlin knows how long, I figured he could use it," Harry said with a shrug. "Let's get out of here. Knowing Arrow, he plans to blow the place soon."

"He can't do that. What about everyone still inside?" Clark argued.

"Don't worry about it," Harry told him. He gestured around the room, allowing Clark to see Doctor Fate appear, collect the unconscious guards, and teleport away. "We've got that covered."

"Alright," Clark said, nodding his head in acceptance.

"Since you two have super speed, we'll meet you outside," Harry told him.

With that, Harry and Zatanna disappeared, the former using apparition and the latter using her teleportation.

They appeared just outside of the entrance before Clark and Bart arrived. Oliver, A.C., Victor, and Luna walked out of the facility about a minute later. The eight of them walked away from the facility together.

When they were several hundred yards away, an explosion shook the ground and the facility went up in flames.

Sharing a look of triumph, the night ended for all the heroes, making it the first time Harry had ever taken a night off without someone to pick up the slack.

* * *

The next morning, Clark, Harry, Luna, Zatanna, Bart, Victor, and A.C. were inside the barn on the Kent farm. This time, they had all met out of costume. It had resulted in Zatanna and Luna's identities to be exposed to the others, but it was only fair since they knew everyone else's secret identities.

"So the Daily Planet is running with the story that a gas explosion destroyed the _vacant_ LuthorCorp building down by the docks," Chloe said as she walked into the barn, putting her cell phone up.

"Vacant?" Clark asked, surprised. The surprise faded as soon as it had come about, however. "I guess the Luthor cover-up machine is in full swing."

"Well, at least we got Bart out before they ran him into an early grave," Chloe said.

"Come on, I had plenty of juice left," Bart said between bites of a burrito.

"You fooled me then. I know you had one of the potions, not to mention how you cleaned out Mama Kent's fridge," Victor remarked.

Bart just chuckled sheepishly. He then used his super speed to appear on the other side of Chloe.

"Just in case I need to spring into action," he told her with a cocky grin.

"I still have a boyfriend," Chloe said, though she appeared to be fairly amused at the same time.

"Yeah, well a man can dream, can't he?" Bart asked, his demeanor unchanging.

"Now we know why we call him Impulse," A.C. said, shaking his head.

"Impulse, Cyborg, Aquaman, Green Arrow… what do you guys call your team?" Clark asked.

"I don't know. I've been thinking we need something cool like…"Bart began, but he just could not seem to come up with a good name.

"I was thinking something with _Justice_ in the name," Oliver said as he walked into the barn. "After all, that's what Lex is going to get a big dose of. Victor and A.C. were able to hack into the 33.1 mainframe before we blew the building."

"That was your other mission," Chloe said, realization dawning in her eyes.

"Haven't met a computer yet that I couldn't crack wide open," Victor boasted.

"What did you guys find out?" Clark asked.

"That Lex isn't satisfied in playing in his backyard anymore," A.C. answered.

"LuthorCorp is starting up divisions of 33.1 all across the globe. Wherever there is evidence of people with abilities, there will be laboratories to do experiments on them," Oliver added.

"We can't let that happen," Clark said, clearly seeing how big of a threat such a project could be.

"We won't," Oliver promised. "Gentlemen, our first target is a large facility on the island of Corto Maltese. You guys know the drill. Get your gear."

"You coming, amigo?" Bart asked, looking back at Clark.

"Yeah man, you've got to come," A.C. told him.

"We could use the big guns," Victor agreed.

"They're right you know. You'd be a major asset to the team," Oliver admitted.

"I want to be a part of this. I really do. But that problem I told you about… the one that I caused… I've got to take care of that first," Clark said. And Harry believed him. He really did want to go with them.

"This isn't the end of the story, Clark. This is just the beginning," Oliver said with a genuine smile.

He then looked at Harry, Zatanna, and Luna.

"You guys were invaluable last night, and I did say that I'd give you a choice. Do any of you want to become full members and come with us?" Oliver asked.

"My place is in Metropolis for now," Harry told him. "For now, I'll stay a reserve member."

"I'm with Harry on this one. If you need anything, we're only a call away though," Zatanna said next.

"I'll go," Luna said, surprising everyone. "Harry and Zatanna can handle things here, and I want to make a bigger difference than I can if I stay here."

"It's been great having you here," Harry said, giving Luna a hug.

Zatanna pulled her into a hug after Harry let her go. "You're always welcome here, even if it's only briefly." They had become good friends since they met.

"We won't be gone forever. The only difference, really, is that our missions take precedent over our regular work as vigilantes," Oliver said.

Everyone began to say their farewells on that note.

"Come on boys and girls. Let's go save the world," Oliver said, walking out of the barn with Bart, Victor, A.C., and Luna behind him.

After they were gone, Zatanna sighed. "It won't be the same without her around."

"Like Oliver said, they'll be back," Harry said. "And when she gets back, the Sanctum will be finished… and Harry Potter will have returned."

Clark and Chloe looked as though they wanted to ask what Harry meant when he placed a hand on Zatanna's shoulder and they vanished.

* * *

Author's Note: As you should be able to tell, this chapter is an adaption of Justice (Episode 11 of Season 6). I didn't change as much as I could have, but this marks the point when you first truly see what becomes the Justice League. Luna joining the team as a full member and leaving Metropolis was not planned, by the way. But I realized that she would serve a better role by leaving than staying.

At this point in time, Oliver's team consists of 5 full members and 4 reserve members. Only one member did not show up, and that's because Oliver did not want to involve a teenager in the mission. The fourth reserve member was never shown in the Smallville series, though his successor was. That's all I'll say about him for now.

This chapter will actually be the last time you see Clark until Bizarro is the last Zoner still on Earth. That should only be two or three chapters without him, but it will limit me too much if I try to make him stick with Clark too much. I may attempt to write in Clark's point of view sometime in the near future though. It's kind of hard to show how much Clark is changing when he is just a side character. In the meantime, I'll go ahead and say that Clark is currently undergoing through his post-Season 8 training with Jor-El, he has been given the same flight lessons from Raya that Kara gave him throughout the series, and while he does still care about Lana, his feelings for her are not as deep. That last part comes as a direct result of him learning more about his Kryptonian heritage. More will explained later on.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away. Also, I do appreciate it when someone points out my mistakes. I don't use beta readers for fanfiction. I have before, but I just don't worry too much about it normally. Having people to bounce ideas off of is another matter.


	16. Return

**15. Return**

Over two weeks had passed since Oliver and his team left to start dealing with the 33.1 facilities.

But they were not the only ones that disappeared.

Following the mission to save Bart, Harry and Zatanna had made a decision.

They took a break from being Emrys and Arcana.

It was no vacation by any means, but it had to be done. As the days passed, Metropolis had stopped appreciating them like they used to. Being reminded of what it was like before they showed up would be good for the people of Metropolis.

That was their way of thinking, at least.

Zatanna had returned to Shadowcrest to get all her affairs there in order since she would not have much of a chance to return again soon.

Harry, on the other hand, had come up with two tasks that he needed to complete before he returned as Emrys.

The first was for him to reclaim his identity as Harry Potter.

But before he could become Harry Potter again, Harold Peverell needed to die.

Actually, that was not quite true. He did not need to _die_. He needed to _disappear_ without a trace.

As Peverell, he had been a recluse. Outside of his friends, the only people that had ever met him were the previous owner of his warehouse and his landlord. Even after everything was arranged so that he could become a citizen, no picture of him had been put on file.

If the only two people that had met Harold Ignotus Peverell forgot that he existed, then he could easily disappear.

After clearing out his apartment and signing the title of the warehouse over to Andromeda Black, Harry simply erased their memories of him. It did not take long at all.

Once Harold Peverell was officially gone, Harry had decided to take care of his scars. The only scars of his that were difficult to heal with the united Deathly Hallows and his knowledge of potions were the two scars that were inflicted by the Killing Curse. However, phoenix tears were capable of fixing them.

He had returned to England once that was done and began to take the necessary steps to become a citizen of the United States of America.

With a bribe, it had been an easy process to gain dual citizenship.

As Harry Potter, he began to do things differently than he had as Harold Peverell.

He had applied for a passport, taken a driving test with a car and a motorcycle so that he could legally drive, purchased a brand new Harley Sportster and a Mustang, and even bought a square mile of land with a house on it.

There was no way he could have hid his existence completely after doing all of those things.

That was the purpose though.

If anyone had done their research on Peverell, they would have learned that he only existed for a few months and had a flimsy back story. Harry Potter, on the other hand, had a back story that was made of a mixture of truth and half-truths. There were no outright lies in his documented past. If anyone looked into his past, they would have no reason to believe that it was anything but true.

The only thing that they would have found suspicious, apart from him supposedly being stranded on a deserted island for seven and a half year, was that there were no pictures of him in any records prior to becoming a citizen of the States. His uncle and aunt's reluctance to treat him civilly had resulted in them going out of their way to ensure that his picture was not taken.

In the end, that was not an issue at all.

After he had become Harry Potter again and finished making his identity traceable, Harry had moved on to his second task.

The task was to build the Sanctum.

The Sanctum was a concept that he had pitched to Zatanna shortly after the first of the year. The warehouse had not been the best place for his headquarters, even if it would have worked for a while longer. The Sanctum was to be his new headquarters.

To build the Sanctum, Harry had needed to find the perfect land.

The perfect land was located on the property of a vacant house between Smallville and Metropolis. Only six acres of the land that the house sat on was well maintained. The rest of the land was pretty rough.

In the exact center of that square mile, two ley lines intersected.

That simple occurrence was enough for Harry go buy the property.

He had actually listed the three bedroom, two car garage home as his official residence, but apart from keeping some stuff in one of the bedrooms and keeping his two motorcycles and his car in the garage, the house was for Andromeda and Teddy.

The house was completely furnished and the electronics were spelled to be highly magic resistant, but that was for Andromeda and Teddy in the end.

The Sanctum was to be his true home.

A perfectly circular clearing was made where the ley lines intersected so that Harry could construct the Sanctum.

It was one of the single greatest acts of magic that Harry had ever performed, but he did it.

A white tower that was shaped like a _rook_ had been built on top of the intersecting ley lines using magic. With charms, transfiguration, and telekinesis, he had built the seven story tower that was to serve as his new headquarters. Under the cover of darkness, he had used his goblin-made staff to erect wards over the entire property. To make them even stronger, he had tied the wards directly into the ley lines.

He had used wards and runes extensively once the shell of the tower had been built, despite having little experience in either area. Thankfully, Dumbledore's spirit had been able to guide him through every step without a problem.

In the end, the tower functioned entirely using magic and the wards on the property were some of the most powerful that Harry had ever seen.

The basic wards around the property simply stopped anyone with hostile intent towards a resident of the property from entering, to stop anyone that was not keyed to the wards from apparating or teleporting onto the property, and to discourage trespassers from looking around by making them think of things that they needed to do. They were simple wards, really.

The wards that were placed on the tower itself were far greater. Anti-Apparition and Anti-Portkey wards were set up that could only be bypassed if Harry was the one to apparate through them or create the portkey. Additional wards were set up to protect the inhabitants of the Sanctum and to prevent anyone from attempting to locate the place through magic of any form, including divination.

Perhaps the greatest active ward was the Sanctuary Ward. That particular ward made it so that anyone that was keyed to the wards would heal faster and be more powerful, magically. While they were inside the wards, at least. It actually used the ley lines to accomplish the task.

There were more wards than that, but those were the only ones that were active. There were quite a few more serious wards that would not be useful unless someone discovered the tower's location and attempted to attack.

It had also been made Unplottable. The tower would look like an old grain silo to anyone that happened to see it. Only foreknowledge would allow someone to see it for what it truly was. That was just a temporary solution, however.

Ten days after Oliver left town, the tower was completely done.

Zatanna had still not returned from Gotham, making it the longest they had been apart since they met, but Harry had other things to keep his mind on.

Once the Sactum was complete, he had started training once again.

For the next six days, he spent all his time training. Physical training and working with Sirius on his animagus transformation were the major areas that Harry trained in. But he had also taken to summoning Severus Snape and learning how to perform a spell that only two people had ever learned.

* * *

Harry checked his watch as he made his way down the street. It was the thirty-first of January. Zatanna was actually supposed to get back later that day so she could see the Sanctum before they returned to work as Emrys and Arcana.

But she was not supposed to show up for several more hours. In the meantime, he wanted to meet someone.

It was not exactly a personal visit, however. He was actually doing something for Oliver.

Oliver had recently contacted him about the Justice Society. To be precise, it had been about the Justice Society's successors. Oliver had asked him to seek out Sylvester Pemberton and see what he could find out about the JSA's more recent activities. They had disbanded, but some of them were at least training the next generation, so it seemed like a good idea.

Harry was not a tracker. His tracking charms only worked if they were placed on someone in close proximity, and the modified _Point Me_ Charm did not always work well when the user was only working off an old picture of someone that they had never met.

He ended up visiting the home of Pat Dugan instead. He had found the address in a phone book and knew that was his old sidekick, Stripesy. Luna had told him that Dugan's stepdaughter was being trained by Pemberton, so it was as good of a lead as any.

He knocked on the door when he arrived at the house.

Before long, an average-looking man in his early forties answered the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked, looking at Harry curiously.

"Hopefully," Harry said. "Are you Pat Dugan?"

"Yes, I am," the man answered. "Why are you looking for me?"

"I'm actually looking for a friend of yours. My friend met him while he was teaching your stepdaughter."

He actually looked surprised at that.

"You're looking for Sylvester?" Pat asked

"Yeah. I'd appreciate it if you could tell me how to find him or arrange a meeting," Harry answered with a nod. "You were my best lead. From what I've heard about Hall, I doubt my only other lead would have panned out."

"It wouldn't have," Pat admitted. Shaking his head, he continued. "Come in. I'll call Sylvester and ask him to stop by. He's between homes right now and is living in his car."

Harry just nodded and walked inside. He had no problem with waiting.

He did not have to wait too long, however.

After about ten minutes, Sylvester Pemberton showed up and took a seat across the table from Harry.

"So you're the Star-Spangled Kid," Harry remarked.

"And you're Emrys," Sylvester said in return, not surprising Harry in the least.

"You knew Luna became Doctor Fate, so a male friend of hers that knows about the JSA would have to be suspect," Harry noted, receiving a nod from Sylvester.

"You are better at keeping your secret than Green Arrow, at least. I've known who he was before he even came to Metropolis," Sylvester told him.

"Speaking of him, Green Arrow has put a team together. It reminds me of the JSA in a way. It's still early in its development, but that's why I'm here," Harry said.

"I have heard a little of this team," Sylvester admitted. "I already told your friend all about Checkmate. I can't help you anymore on that front."

"Have you ever attempted to reform the JSA?" Harry asked.

"I have, but not enough people have agreed to try it," Sylvester answered with a frown. "Why?"

"If the JSA was ever reformed, Checkmate would know exactly who to go to. They would know exactly where your headquarters was. They would know exactly who was mentoring the new heroes. They would know everything they needed to know," Harry told him calmly. "This new team may be the answer, however. Checkmate does not know anything about me. They do not know who Green Arrow is, even if you do. They would never think to look at our property to find a headquarters. Maybe it would be better to just guide the new generation and suggest that they join the new team."

"Until I know more about this time, I can't just do that," Sylvester told him, shaking his head. "You do have a point, but I just do not know enough."

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Well, if you change your mind, give me a call. And if you want, you can stay at my empty warehouse. I used to use it as a headquarters, but I've moved since then."

As he spoke, he gave Sylvester a piece of paper with his number and the warehouse's address on it. He gave him a key to go with it.

"I'm sure we'll speak again."

"I'm sure we will," Sylvester agreed.

And with that, Harry disappeared before his eyes.

* * *

Much to his surprise, Harry found that Zatanna was already at the house when he arrived. Her sport bike was parked right in front of his house.

"I thought you weren't going to be back for another couple hours," Harry said as he walked up to her.

She gave him a hug and a kiss before she answered, to which he gladly returned. "I missed my flight, so I decided to just teleport here instead."

"In that case, why don't I show you around the Sanctum?" Harry asked.

She liked the sound of that, so together they walked over to the Sanctum.

The Sanctum actually looked like a grain silo to her when they first reached it, but the moment that he told her what it actually was, she was able to see the rook-shaped tower for herself.

He gave her a full tour of the Sanctum at that point.

They had gone down to the _Labs_ first. They were located about twenty-five feet underground. The Labs were only connected to the Sanctum through a tunnel that housed the staircase that had to be used to get down to them.

The building that was used for the Labs was divided into four separate rooms with a single hallway going down the center. The first door to the left had been an Alchemy Lab. The second door to the left had been an Alchemy Storeroom. The first door to the right had been a Potion Lab. And the second door to the right had been a Potion Storeroom.

Each of the four rooms was originally a perfect square, but they had been magically expanded on the inside. The labs maintained their original shape, but the storerooms had gained a more rectangular shape so that they could store everything they needed to.

After that, they had gone up to explore the first floor. It was essentially the _Great Hall_. The ceiling had been bewitched similarly to the ceiling of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, but that was about as close as they were. There was a long table there for people to eat at, but there was only one single table. Towards the back of the room, there was a door that led to the kitchen and the pantry. While the actual Great Hall was not magically expanded, the kitchen and the pantry were.

The next floor was one of Harry's favorites, and he imagined that Hermione would have been proud of it. It was the _Library_. The room took up the entire floor and normally would have had a diameter of twenty-five feet. It was magically expanded to be twice as big and had bookshelves all around the place. They were only half-filled so far, but quite a few books could fit in a room that size. In addition to the books, Harry had Zatanna's pensieve placed in the center of the room and tables arranged around it with plenty of chairs to sit at.

The floor above that was the only door in the Sanctum that was enchanted to lock every time it shut. It was officially called the _Containment Room_. All of their books on the darker aspects of magic were stored in the room, and there was a table for people to take a seat at while they went over the books. However, that was only a small part of the room's purpose. Glass cases that were covered in strong protective magic and containment wards lined the circular wall. It was primarily made to contain artifacts of Dark Magic. One of the glass cases was filled already, but there was nothing magical inside it.

He felt better knowing that all his Kryptonite was safely locked away where only he could retrieve it, however.

The fourth floor was actually a replica of the Gryffindor Common Room, though the fireplace had been replaced with a television and DVD player that were altered to work off magic rather than electricity. As a result, he could actually watch movies in the _Common Room_.

The fifth floor was a replica of the Gryffindor Dormitory, or at least the one that he used each year that he was in Hogwarts. It had more furniture for clothes and other possessions, but it was close enough at the same time.

The sixth floor was the _Bathroom_. Its design came from his time in Hogwarts. The toilets were housed in stalls and there were multiple sinks. Remembering the Prefect's bathroom, he had also added a very large bathtub. There was no plumbing in the Sanctum, however. Runes and enchantments were used instead.

And the seventh floor was where Harry's bedroom was. It was shaped like a half-circle and was furnished with a large bed, a cabinet for his pensieve, a desk, two wardrobes, and two cupboards. Between his desk and the wall, there was an entrance to a secret room, however. It was spelled similarly to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

On the other side, there was another room shaped like a half-circle. He had cabinets for all his weapons, brooms, potions, and WWW supplies, along with two circular glass cases that held their latest costumes. The costumes were actually worn by transfigured mannequins. On the left, the mannequin wore the costume that Luna gave Harry. On the right, the mannequin wore a completely new costume for Zatanna.

It appeared to use one of her catsuits, but the mark on it had been replaced with the _eihwaz_ rune. It looked like a slender, slanted backwards _z_ and represented defense, patience, and calmness, depending on what runic alphabet was used.

Dragonskin boots, gloves, and belt had replaced the enchanted red leather that Luna had given her. They were from a Chinese Fireball and had been expertly made, being soft and supple on the inside without losing any durability on the outside. The _eihwaz_ was branded into the front of the belt, standing out against the scarlet leather.

It did not look too different at first glance, but it was noticeably different at a closer look.

He had been glad that she actually liked the change. She even admitted that she felt embarrassed telling anyone that her mark was unknown. It was kind of like when someone got a tattoo of a Japanese word without knowing for certain what it meant.

* * *

"So, how'd everything go in Gotham?" Harry asked, standing on top of the tower. His eyes strayed to the ward stone on the center of the roof occasionally. The only way to alter the wards was to use that crystal orb. He had actually just keyed Zatanna into the wards, allowing her to teleport on the property without a problem. She still could not teleport inside the tower, however.

"Interesting," Zatanna said after a moment of thought. "Do you remember that old friend I mentioned?"

Harry nodded his head without hesitation. He knew better than to forget things about his girlfriend's past. It never ended well.

"Well, he tracked me down while I was there, and he called me _Arcana_," Zatanna told him.

Harry could not hide the shock from showing in his eyes.

"To make matters even more interesting, he's Gotham City's Batman," Zatanna told him.

If he was shocked before, he was dumbfounded now.

"So he is real and you actually know who he is?" Harry asked.

"I can't tell you who he is," Zatanna said with a hint of worry in her eyes. "But Batman is real."

"I'm not asking who he really is," Harry stated. "If something had happened between you two when you were in Gotham, I'd be asking, but otherwise I can respect the whole _secret identity_ thing. I was in the same position as you are now a month ago."

She definitely could not deny that. "Just for the record, nothing could happen. If anyone tried anything, I'd turn them into a toad. And since I met you, I have not felt attracted to any other man."

"Same here," Harry said, leaning in to kiss her. "Not to any other women either."

The last part came out jokingly, making Zatanna laugh. She was sharp on the uptake.

"So anything else I should know about?" Harry asked curiously.

"I did run into my cousin while I was there. He attempted to get me to let him move in with me and act as my assistant," Zatanna said after a moment of though. "Like my father and I, he can use magic by speaking backwards and has an interest in being a stage magician. Fortunately, I did not have to give an answer when his parents found out what he was asking. I would prefer that he remained ignorant of what we do."

"That might be for the best," Harry agreed. "And just so you know, you are welcome to stay here as often as you like."

"I appreciate the offer," Zatanna told him. "But not tonight. I have some things I need to do."

She did not explain further and Harry did not ask. As much as he would have liked to have her stay over, they were still independent in their own ways.

* * *

The next night, Emrys and Arcana made their return to Metropolis.

They started before sunset.

Unlike before, they were mostly reactionary. Zatanna had managed to acquire a radio so they could hear about crimes in progress. Before the police could get to the scene, the criminals they were after were bound in chains. Dealing with drug dealers, muggers, and gang members still made up the majority of their activities, but they had stopped delivering the criminals to the police station. When they learned of a crime that was not mentioned over the radio, they instead hung the criminal from the nearest street light with conjured chains.

Their finale of the night was a letter to the Daily Planet with a very simple message.

_We are back._

_-Emrys & Arcana_

The mark of the Deathly Hallows and the _eihwaz_ rune were beneath the names.

The following day promised to be interesting.

But that was not the end of the night for them.

They had left Metropolis on Harry's old motorcycle and planned on flying to the roof of the Sanctum.

Halfway there, a burst of green light shot towards them.

It would have slammed into Zatanna if Harry had not swerved out of the way suddenly.

"I'll handle this," Harry said as he suddenly jumped off of the motorcycle.

He could hear Zatanna yell when began to freefall over a hundred feet above the ground.

When Harry was within twenty feet of the ground, he suddenly accelerated down the road of his own accord.

He was flying.

He flipped mid-air and landed in front of the individual that had cast the spell at them. His eyes were glowing green as he looked at the man.

"You're going to die," Harry told him calmly but with righteous anger in his eyes.

"You first," Lucius Malfoy said as he raised his wand with the Killing Curse on his lips.

He had wondered when Lucius would show up again. It seemed only fitting that he had shown up right after the return of Emrys and Arcana.

"Langlock," Harry intoned. The spell hit Lucius before he could cast the Killing Curse, sealing his tongue to the roof of his mouth. It was enough to prevent him from using any of the Unforgiveable Curses.

Not deterred in the least, Lucius switched spells. Instead of another burst of green light being emitted from the tip of his wand, a snake made of fire was formed.

At times like that, Harry wished he knew _Parselmagic_. If he had, he could have commanded it to attack Lucius. But since he did not, he did something different.

He held his hand out and a small orb of fire formed in front of it. The orb seemed to shoot forward and explode, taking the form of a lion made of flames. The lion bit down on the snake's neck and slammed it to the ground.

If Lucius was going to use Fiendfyre, Harry was going to do the same.

Harry saw Lucius spin around and emit a whip of cursed fire from his wand.

Harry ducked underneath it easily, but he failed to see it for what it was.

Lightning shot from the open hand of Lucius and hit him in the stomach. The whip had simply been a feint.

Harry was thrown back with a hole in his shirt, though the only damage to his stomach was a black mark. It had left him temporarily paralyzed, however.

As Harry hit the ground. Lucius began to walk towards him with his wand pointed at his face. Harry's spell seemed to have faded, allowing him to speak once again.

"I was forbidden from seeking you out again," Lucius said in disgust. "But I will not be used. I will have my revenge, and she can go to the crows for all I care. Now, you die."

"Dnuob yb sniahc!"

Lucius went to spin around when conjured chains wrapped around him and forced him to his knees.

Zatanna was behind him, furious. "I won't let anything happen to him," she vowed.

"Thanks," Harry told her, sitting up. Maybe having a partner was a good thing. He had gotten too careless, confident that he could have easily beaten Lucius. If he really wanted to, he could have simply incinerated him with a massive wave of fiendfyre. Yet, he had not.

"Don't be so reckless," Zatanna told him with a glare. "And before you decided to practice your freefalling, you should tell me that you can fly." Though she did not yell, it was easy to see that she was pissed.

"Understood," Harry told her as he stood up and walked towards Lucius. "It won't happen again."

"It better not," Zatanna huffed.

"Who do you work for?" Harry asked, shifting his full attention to Lucius.

"No one," Lucius answered with pure hatred in his eyes. "I'm not about to let that bitch use me anymore."

Before any clarification could be given, Harry saw something with his Mage Sight. It prompted him to tackle Zatanna, placing a hand behind her head to stop her from hitting her head on the road.

Lucius had exploded in black flames before anything else could be said.

"What just happened?" Zatanna asked once Harry rolled off of her. She saw that he had not been burnt at all, but the flames that had engulfed Lucius and turned him into ash were clearly hellfire.

"A complication," Harry answered with a grimace. He had been so close to getting the answers he sought too. "Let's just head back to the Sanctum. I'm already getting sore."

* * *

"It is done," Bellatrix said as she bowed before her mistress.

"That is good to hear," Morgana said with a smile.

"Mistress, may I ask-" Bellatrix began, but Morgana interrupted her.

"Lucius may have believed that he was rebelling against me by going after him when I ordered him not to, but that was my plan. With my magic, I was able to observe the battle, and it answered my question. The Deathly Hallows have been united as one."

"If you wanted the Deathly Hallows, surely you could have obtained them by now, Mistress," Bellatrix remarked nervously.

She remembered when Lucius had questioned why they were even bothering with the Deathly Hallows in the first place. Not even Voldemort had tortured a subordinate so viciously. She did explain why the Deathly Hallows were so important though. Once united, they gave the wielder perfect control of one's magic, the ability to freely summon the souls of the dead, and the ability to become completely invisible to all means of magical detection. Those abilities were quite useful.

"I could have taken the Deathly Hallows from the Peverell brothers right after Death gave them the artifacts. However, The Deathly Hallows needed to be mastered by a descendent of Ignotus. It was the only way they could be united as one. Without one of his bloodline, the Invisibility Cloak would have lost its power because of its bonds of loyalty. However, the united form of the Deathly Hallows has a much simpler loyalty. It can be passed on willingly or its loyalty will pass to the one who kills its master. Becoming the _Master of Death_ is a far simpler matter now," Morgana explained patiently. "The power that the current _Master of Death_ wields is great enough to prevent the title from being forcibly taken by most people. However, there is one that I know of that is far more fitting of the title. He does not wish to be given the title freely, however."

"It means nothing if I do not earn it," a voice suddenly spoke out.

Bellatrix stiffened when she heard the voice.

"You will earn it then," Morgana told him with a smile. "But perhaps you should let him grow stronger before you do. You never did like destroying weak enemies, after all."

"I believe I will do just that, Mother," Mordred said as he stepped out of the shadows.

* * *

Author's Note: This was almost my first 10k word chapter. That's a bit of a joke, but not by much. Harry originally spend around 4k words giving Zatanna a tour of the Sanctum. It was way too descriptive without anything vital happened. On the bright side, I now know exactly what the Sanctum looks like on the inside. On the outside, it looks like a traditional _rook_ chess piece. The only further thing I'll say on the inside is that it looks like a tower inside of a tower. Between the outer wall and the wall of the _inner tower_ is a stair case that goes from the entrance all the way up to the trapdoor on the roof. Again, this is a magic building. There are no support beams, plumbing, electric lines, etc. Just picture Harry making the tower by transfiguring a bunch of stones, making them bigger with magic, positioning them with telekinesis, and applying permanent sticking charms to keep them in place. You wouldn't be far off.

Overall, I wasn't a huge fan of this chapter, but I think it serves its purpose well. The only really big developments of this chapter were Harry Potter's replacement of Harold Peverell as his public identity, Zatanna seeing the Sanctum, and Lucius dying after Emrys and Arcana returned to Metropolis. As you can see, I'm also setting up one of Harry's primary antagonists of the story. I do want to point out, however, that Lucius was not planned to die. Harry was originally going to destroy him in their fight and then do something like binding Lucy's magic and sending him to Siberia. Instead, I decided to make Harry get a little careless and have the problem dealt with in a way that seemed to work better in the end.

There is one more thing I want to say. This story is mostly focusing on the DC side of things, but at no point will the other side of the crossover cease to matter. Harry Potter characters will have a role in the future. Lucius dying really means that he will be replaced, even if it doesn't happen for a while. I like balance, and there are two Harry Potter heroes in the story.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing.


	17. Catalyst

**16. Catalyst**

"It looks like they've printed a special afternoon edition just for us," Zatanna remarked as she walked into Harry's room.

Harry took the newspaper from her and saw that they had done just as she said. The return of Emrys and Arcana had been a major event. The Daily Planet had not been able to get the story ready in time, so they had covered it all in a special edition. The general response seemed to be positive with people talking about how glad they were that they came back. Not a single negative comment had been written in the paper. The closest thing to it was speculation as to where they had gone.

"We still need to talk about last night," Zatanna told him, crossing her arms. "What made you be so reckless? Do you have a death wish?"

"Not at all," Harry told her, putting down the paper on his desk. "I was never really in danger. If I actually said that last night, I'd have pissed you off even more though."

She looked at him in confusion and waited for him to elaborate.

"I just started learning how to fly recently. I can fly for about a minute and a half before the spell wears off. If it didn't work, I could have slowed my descent with magic or simply apparated to safety," Harry told her. Those possibilities clearly had not occurred to her. "And my body was temporary paralyzed when you showed up, but I could have used my telekinesis on him or apparated out of there. I was using my Mage Sight to see what he was going to do so I could figure out how to react. Don't get me wrong. I'm very glad you helped me, but I wasn't in any danger of dying."

"Try not to scare me like that again," Zatanna said after a few minutes of silence. Those ideas had never even crossed her mind.

"I'll try not to," Harry told her. "But I can't make any promises."

She did not look too reassured by that, but she knew it was the best that she was going to get from him.

Harry's phone began to ring.

Removing it from his pocket, he answered it.

"This is Sylvester. If you have time, come by the warehouse. I haven't changed my mind yet, but there is someone that you might want to meet."

"I'll be there," Harry said.

"Who was that?" Zatanna asked curiously. The only person that had ever called him when she was around was Oliver.

"It was the Star-Spangled Kid," Harry told her. "Oliver had me talk to him the other day about the JSA. He wants to meet again, so I'll see what he wants."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Zatanna asked.

"No, I'll handle it," Harry said, shaking his head. "I figured you'd want to get some reading in."

She could not disagree there. She had been planning on learning more from her father's book, along with getting ready so that she could begin learning alchemy.

"I'll see you when you get back," Zatanna told him, leaning in to give him a kiss.

After returning the kiss, Harry apparated away.

* * *

Upon arriving at the warehouse, Harry saw that training targets and an obstacle course had been set up.

"You are quick," Sylvester remarked as he walked towards him with a staff in his right hand. "But you didn't come here to chat. I asked you to come here because I believe there are some things you should know."

"What things?" Harry asked, walking towards him.

"A few things, actually," Sylvester told him. "I began to look into Queen's team after we last spoke. It was not easy, but I have learned all about his current efforts against 33.1 with Impulse, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Doctor Fate. Those are not the only members of his team, of course. The entire JSA was only very rarely involved in a single incident. But the only other members of the team that I was able to learn about are _reserve_ members. They are rarely involved in the team's missions, and it seems that they are more focused on the cities they live than anything else."

Harry could not help but be impressed by what Sylvester had learned about so far.

"I must admit that I know nothing about one of the four reserve members, but I know everything enough about the other three: Emrys, Arcana, and Red Arrow."

Harry looked curious when he heard the last name.

"Naturally, you are Emrys and Zatanna Zatara is Arcana," Sylvester continued, not even bothering to ask if he was right. "Red Arrow was the difficult one to learn about. He's been around for more than six months by now, but no one had any idea what he was doing until after the Green Arrow came here and was given the name. Red Arrow is a sixteen year old boy that appears to have trained under Green Arrow before he left Star City. He was only involved in one mission that the team had, and it was shortly after the team was formed."

Harry did not fail to notice that Sylvester did not reveal the boy's secret identity, but that was fine with him.

"So he's Oliver's sidekick?" Harry asked.

"He was, but with Red Arrow as the only hero in Star City, it could be argued that he is no longer a sidekick," Sylvester replied. "But that's only a part of the reason I asked you to come here. I have not given up hope that the Justice Society will be reborn, but there are individuals that may consider an offer to join this new team. I can put you into contact with the Angel of Vengeance and the daughter of the Black Canary. Of the two, Dinah will be the harder one to convince to join you. She does some side work recovering stolen items for people with the money to pay, but it is very different than the work of a hero."

"Did you offer them a spot in the JSA?" Harry asked.

"Until I can manage to reform it, I will not be offering the new generation a chance to join it," Sylvester told him. "But it does not matter. They would not join. The Angel of Vengeance would be far easier to approach by someone closer to her age, and Dinah believes as you do when it comes to the JSA."

"I'll seek them out then," Harry said. He would need to run the idea by Oliver, but he doubted that Oliver would reject the idea in the end.

Sylvester handed him two pieces of paper that appeared to be copies. There was enough information to easily find both girls, fortunately.

"Thanks for your assistance. Feel free to call if you need me," Harry said as he turned to walk away.

"I will keep that in mind," Sylvester said right before Harry disappeared.

In the end, Oliver had taken the idea to let the girls join the team into consideration. But he had told Harry that he would seek them out himself and make the offers.

It was kind of fair in Harry's opinion, seeing as how he was just a reserve member.

* * *

Before long, February passed and March had come.

Nothing too big had happened since Lucius had died.

Harry and Zatanna had simply dealt with the run-of-the-mill criminals. Outside of their work as vigilantes, the pair spent most of their time training in one form or another. Their training had taken so much of their time training that they did not spend as much time together as they used to. Things were not bad between them at all. They simply found themselves too distracted to do much together. However, it did not stop them from spending their first Valentine's Day as a couple on a date or spending the occasional night together.

The lessened time together was not what they two were thinking about the most, however.

The day that they had been waiting on had finally come.

Andromeda and Teddy were supposed to be arriving at their new house soon.

They had actually spent the last week moving Andromeda's things into the house, along with moving certain magical artifacts into the Sanctum.

"Did you invite anyone else to come over?" Zatanna asked as they were getting ready for Andromeda and Teddy to arrive.

"Raya and J'onn are busy tracking down the last phantom, and Clark's still bothered by the wedding," Harry told her as he shook his head. From how he understood it, Clark's first love had married Lex Luthor a little less than two weeks earlier. Raya had been the one to explain the situation to him. According to her, Clark was actually over her since he had begun to embrace his Kryptonian side, but his human side was in love with the idea of her.

"Probably for the best," Zatanna said. "If it was me, I'd want a quiet night in my new place."

Harry could not disagree with her there.

Before anything further could be said, Harry felt a pressure in the back of his head. It was hard to decipher the exact meaning, but it was a signal from the wards over the entire property. He actually recognized it as the Anti-Portkey Ward.

Walking into the living room, he saw that Andromeda had arrived with Teddy and a large trunk.

"Uncle Harry!" Teddy exclaimed as he ran towards his godfather and practically tackled him.

"Hey Teddy, how's it been going?" Harry said, hugging his godson.

"He's been looking forward to it ever since he found out we were moving here," Andromeda told him. "If he was any happier, it would have been hard to explain to anyone that asked. It being his birthday just barely worked."

"I'm sorry you won't see your friends for a while," Harry told Teddy with a sad smile. "But I'm sure you'll find new friends in no time."

Teddy nodded his head, believing Harry's words.

"I've set up everything you two will need," Harry said, looking at Andromeda. "Legally, you're American citizens. As long as Teddy doesn't decide to use his abilities, we can enroll him in school. Or, you can home-school him if you want to."

"Teddy, do you promise not to use your abilities when anyone else is around?" Andromeda asked, looking at her grandson.

"I promise," he told her. It was a serious promise for a nine year old boy, but the look in his eyes told Harry that he understood.

"Then you can start school in the fall. I'll help you get caught up until then," Andromeda told him, fully aware that there was still much that he did not know about muggles. Without all the necessary information, he would stand out.

"Now, how about I show you to your rooms?" Harry asked. "I'm sure you'll just want to go to bed after dinner. The time difference is noticeable."

Teddy looked excited to see his room, but Andromeda looked like she wanted to talk to Harry.

"I'll show Teddy his room," Zatanna told them. "Why don't you two just catch up a little?"

Without another word, she left with Teddy, leaving them alone.

"Harry, I appreciate you letting us move here. I cannot tell you how relieved I am to be out of England. It may be too soon to really tell, but I just know that this was the best thing for me. I have too many memories in England. A new start is just the thing I need. I don't want to just live here out of the goodness of your heart though. Surely there's something I can do for you."

Harry did not even have to think about it.

"Actually, I'd like to give you a job," Harry told her. "I need someone to brew potions for me and to occasionally treat injuries. Zatanna or I could do it ourselves, but I'd rather have someone that is more experienced in both areas. Maybe you could do more eventually, but I think that's all for now. There is actually a Vanishing Cabinet in the basement of this house. Its twin is inside the Sanctum, our current headquarters."

"I can do that," Andromeda said, actually looking pleased by the idea. "If you need me to do anything else, just ask. However, I do want to give you something else. The Black vault… I want you to consider it yours completely. I do not plan on ever using it again, so it would be a waste if you just left it alone. Also, do you have this _Sanctum_ under a Fidelius Charm?"

Harry could see that she was not going to argue about the Black vault, so he decided to just accept it. If she was going to work for him, she was not going to need her family's old fortune anymore.

"The Sanctum is not under the Fidelius Charm. It doesn't work as well if the Secret Keeper lives there. While Zatanna has never stayed the night there, I didn't think I should make her the Secret Keeper just in case that changed," Harry told her.

He had not fully understood why, but Zatanna would only stay in his room at the house when she stayed the night. His best guess was that she did not want to stay at the Sanctum because she would not want to leave if she did so.

"I will be your Secret Keeper then," Andromeda said, surprising Harry. "I have never cast it before, but I know that the Fidelius Charm is not weakened by the Secret Keeper living near a building that it has been placed on. You and Teddy are all that is left of my family. The only good parts, at least. If this will protect you, then I will do it."

"Thank you," Harry told her. "And just so you know, it's up to you when you start brewing potions. I won't pay you by the potion either. I'll just give you ten thousand every month."

"That is generous," Andromeda remarked. She knew enough about conversion rates to realize that it was about a thousand galleons a month. It was not a small amount of money at all. "I will start making potions tomorrow if that's okay with you. I may need some help with Teddy though."

"Teddy is welcome at the Sanctum when you're there. I can keep him occupied," Harry said, thinking about the television in the Common Room.

"Whenever you want to cast the Fidelius Charm, I'll be ready to be your Secret Keeper as well," Andromeda added.

"Tomorrow night," Harry replied after a moment of thought. "But for now, let's just have a nice night."

With that, he led her to her bedroom so he could show her around. He carried her trunk as he walked. Andromeda did not fail to notice that he did so without magic.

* * *

After the Fidelius Charm was placed on the Sanctum, it became far more secure of a place. To one without the secret, it had become invisible, intangible, unplottable, and soundproof.

Harry actually had to place spells on the Vanishing Cabinet in Andromeda's basement so that it could only be used by someone that was keyed into the Sanctum's wards. Otherwise, anyone that used it would have become privy to the secret.

A week had passed since Andromeda and Teddy had moved in, and things were slowly beginning to build up.

Harry's work as Emrys had mostly remained the same, though Zatanna's return to the stage recently had forced him to work by himself a little more. The only unusual thing he had noticed was that the crime rates around the city had dropped for the most part. He was still kept busy, but Suicide Slums was once again the number one area for crime in Metropolis. He only tried to do a patrol through Suicide Slums once recently, and that had ended with him being shot.

He hated the idea of giving up on any part of Metropolis, but until he had a better solution, it seemed that the best option was to limit the spread of serious crimes in the city. Focusing only on Suicide Slums had only resulted in the crime of every other part of Metropolis skyrocketing, after all.

And one fact that he preferred not to consider was that he could not handle all of Metropolis by himself. It was too big to deal with, especially with Intergang becoming steadily more active. Fortunately, Zatanna's only spent four hours a week performing on stage, and it was limited to Friday and Saturday. As a result, he did not have to work alone too much.

If there was a word that best described how he felt as he tried to protect the people of Metropolis, it was _frustrated_. Emrys had been a distraction originally. When he was still disguised as Harold Ignotus Peverell, Harry had seen Emrys as a way to distract himself from thinking about the seven years he missed out on and his desire to seek out his friends.

The shedding of his alias was more than just about using his true name again. It had been about acceptance. He had accepted that he was Harry Potter, the Master of Death. He had accepted that Emrys was a duty, not a distraction. He had accepted that it was his responsibility to protect people, not a hobby.

Once he had realized and accepted that, it became harder for him to see that he was not making as big of a difference as he would have liked.

But those were thoughts that he did not have when he was Emrys. Those were problems for Harry Potter to think about.

Emrys was a man of action. He had no time to complain that he was not doing enough.

With glowing green eyes, Emrys lifted his staff and blocked the crowbar that the thug had tried to smash his face in with.

He jumped and kicked out with his feet, sending the thug backwards and gaining the momentum to do a backflip.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zatanna telekinetically slam the last thug into the brick wall of the alleyway.

Her style had largely remained the same. She used her magic to do everything and preferred to use her telekinesis against average thugs. When she fought against Harry, she had a tendency to use her more advanced forms of magic.

Harry was another story though. His magical abilities were growing constantly, but he had recently started using hand to hand combat and saving his magic for when the situation grew complicated. He actually had skill with a staff now.

"Can you take care of these guys?" Harry asked, looking at Zatanna.

"Yeah," Zatanna answered, nodding her head. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. I'll tell you when I get back," Harry replied a little distantly. He flew up into the air without another word. It was nowhere near as fast as a Kryptonian or a Martian could fly, but he could comfortably fly fast enough to keep up with his Firebolt. The issue was that his body lacked the durability that J'onn, Raya, Clark, and Doctor Fate possessed. If he flew too fast, he would seriously injure himself. His suit was not made to withstand fast flight either.

He landed atop a nearby building and locked eyes with J'onn J'onzz.

"Hello J'onn," Harry greeted as he walked towards the Green Martian. "It's been a while."

"It has," J'onn agreed. They had not seen each other in months, actually. "I wish I came under better circumstances."

"Shit," Harry muttered as he noticed that J'onn was injured. It looked like something had reached into his stomach and tried to rip his innards out.

"I encountered the final phantom tonight," J'onn told him. "The last phantom is not a criminal like the others. It is the result of a Kryptonian science experiment. It was given the name _Bizarro_. It has the ability to possess a host. However, every human host that it has possessed has died within twenty-four hours. Only the body of a Kryptonian can sustain it. Kal-El is in grave danger, especially if he seeks it out. Not even his crystal will be enough. I need you to seek out Kal-El tomorrow and keep an eye on him so that he does not do anything reckless."

"If he possesses our friend…" Harry said, trailing off.

"Then Bizarro will have all of Kal-El's abilities and weaknesses. There is no safe way to extract Bizarro either," J'onn answered grimly.

"I see," Harry said, growing deep in thought. "In that case, I will be prepared in case I can't stop it."

"You have Kryptonite," J'onn stated passively.

"I own a house between Metropolis and Smallville. I found multiple types of Kryptonite on my property," Harry confirmed.

"You understand war," J'onn remarked as he walked towards him. "I will help you if it comes down to it. But I must return to Mars. My healing abilities are impeded in Earth's atmosphere. I would not have enough time to return home, heal, and get back in time to warn Clark, but I will be back in time to help you if Kal-El is possessed."

Harry sighed, unhappy with the whole conversation.

"Here is everything I have on Bizarro," J'onn said, removing a file from his jacket and handing it to Harry. "Be careful."

"You too," Harry replied.

As J'onn flew straight up, Harry flew back towards Zatanna. He arrived just as she finished her task.

"What's wrong?" she asked when she saw the look on his face.

"There's been a complication. I'll tell you about it when we're behind closed doors," he told her, shaking his head.

Yes, things were definitely building up. Only one question remained. What were things building up to?

* * *

Author's Note: As the name implies, this chapter is about Harry being as a turning point in his life. My intent was to show what brings about major changes in Harry's time as Emrys. His status as a reserve member of Oliver's team is something that he cannot forgot about, he has family around, he's doubting himself because he doesn't see what he is doing as big enough, he's been growing more distant from Zatanna, and Bizarro's role in the story has finally arisen.

There are so many ways that things can change here for him. He has a major role in every single issue that has brought him to this turning point.

I have an image of how I see Harry and Emrys, and I have been working towards making the rest of you see it. That is what has led to me actually bringing up these issues and how they are affecting him. Zatanna is the one thing actually surprised me. It would be easy enough to bring them closer than they were originally. At the same time, it would be easy to break them apart and have him move on to someone else. I'm leaning towards the former, though I would be lying if I denied considering the latter.

Oh, and I should point this out in case someone missed it, but Harry's ability to fly was only severely limited last chapter. The only limitation that he has, as far as his abilities to fly go, is that he lacks superhuman durability. If he had invulnerability, he would be able to fly just as fast as a Kryptonian or Martian. But if you tried to accelerate a human as fast as they can fly, it would kill the human pretty quickly.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing.


	18. Bizarro

**17. Bizarro**

"What in the hell is he doing?" Harry muttered under his breath.

Harry had gone to the Kent Farm the next morning to speak to Clark, but he had chosen to wait until he was alone to show himself. Unfortunately, he had not been given the chance. Apparently Martha had been chosen to take up the mantle of Senator, so she had to say her farewells to Clark. And after that was dealt with, Lana Lang showed up to talk to Clark.

He had respected Clark's privacy, but Clark had run off right after Lana left. Fortunately, he had placed a tracking spell on Clark just in case.

Closing his eyes, Harry apparated to Clark's location. He was not fond of apparating to a specific person instead of a place, but it was necessary sometimes.

Upon arriving, Harry saw that Clark was actually holding Lionel Luthor against a wall with his fist pulled back to punch him with lethal force.

Harry grabbed Clark's fist as quickly as he could, using his telekinetic powers to replicate super strength. He was not stupid enough to think that it was enough to stop Clark if he really wanted to break Harry's grip, but it was only meant to get his attention.

"Clark, what do you think you're doing?" Harry asked, his eyes taking on a feint glow.

"Harry, this is none of your concern," Clark told him angrily.

"Lionel Luthor is an emissary of Jor-El," Harry said flatly. "J'onn mentioned it before, so I assumed he told you."

The fact that Harry knew J'onn actually stopped Clark in his tracks.

"I know my methods may seem cruel, but I'm just trying to help you," Lionel told Clark. "When Lex was possessed by Zod, I was possessed with all your father's knowledge."

"This doesn't matter," Harry said, catching Clark's attention. "If you have a problem with Luthor, deal with it on your own time. If you're going to run off at the first chance, I don't have time to wait. You need to see this."

He offered the file to Clark as he finished speaking.

Clark looked between Harry and the file curiously before he let go of Lionel and took the file from Harry. He began to look through it, reading all about the final phantom.

"J'onn should be healing on Mars or on his way back by now," Harry added. "He encountered the phantom and was injured badly. Until he gets back, you should try to keep a low profile. If this phantom finds you, we'll have another evil Kryptonian to deal with, but we won't have you to help us this time."

Clark grimaced, but he did not look convinced to actually keep his head down.

"If I don't stop it, who will?" Clark asked after a moment.

"Raya and J'onn should be able to figure out a way to deal with it, but you must be patient," Lionel cautioned him.

Clark nodded his head, his eyes showing that he was deep in thought.

"I'll keep my head down," Clark said, turning his back to them. He used his super speed to disappear before anything further could be said.

"He's not going to do that," Harry remarked once Clark was gone. Passive Legilimency was a useful skill to have. Curiously, he turned to Lionel. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me where I could find the main 33.1 facility, would you?"

He barely suppressed a smile when he saw a mental image of the facility in Lionel's head.

"I'm afraid that you are asking the wrong Luthor," Lionel said, shaking his head.

"Perhaps," Harry conceded. "By the way, it would be wise of you to never reveal my identity to anyone. If you do, I will erase all your memories. If you're lucky, that's as far as I'll go. If not, I'll implant new memories, and you won't like them."

"As long as you are Clark's ally, I would gain nothing from doing anything of the sort," Lionel remarked. "I am not exactly inclined to oppose you when you leave a threat like that hanging over my head either."

"That's good to hear," Harry said. "By the way, if Clark goes to do something that he should not do, just call me. As Jor-El's emissary, the last thing you need is to die a violent death. I'm capable of subduing Clark if I need to, and I may be the only one in the area that can hold off this phantom. I've been possessed before, so I know how to defend myself against it."

"Very well," Lionel said. "I will get in touch if it comes up."

Nodding, Harry apparated out of the building.

* * *

After leaving LuthorCorp Plaza, Harry had returned to the Sanctum and put his suit on. He had no doubt that he would need to act as Emrys soon. He had a good feeling that Clark would actually encounter the phantom before the day was out. Yet, he also had a good feeling that Clark would survive the encounter somehow.

He knew better than to question his intuition though. What was important was that he was prepared just in case.

From his mokeskin pouch, Harry retrieved a small lead box. It was a tight fit because of the box's dimensions, but he pulled it out with little effort. Opening it, he saw a fist-sized blue rock inside. Blue Kryptonite could temporarily strip a Kryptonian's powers, making it ideal if Clark was possessed. Hopefully, he would be able to find a way to save Clark if he had to use it.

Closing it, Harry put the box in his jacket pocket. Having it in an easy place to reach would be a good idea.

"Harry, what's going on?"

Harry turned around and saw Zatanna looking at him in surprise.

"I need to be ready in case the last phantom makes its move."

"And you didn't think to ask me to help?" Zatanna asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Harry, this needs to stop. We've been drifting apart. I know it isn't just your fault, but things can't become better if you aren't willing to work with me. We're supposed to be partners, with or without our masks on. If you keep pushing me away, I'm not so sure how long it'll stay that way."

Harry looked down, thinking about what she said. She had a point. That was something he could not deny. And in all honesty, Harry hated the idea of losing Zatanna. She was special to him, and he had no intention of letting her go without a fight.

"You're right," Harry told her. "But let's fix our relationship after we've dealt with Bizarro. As much as I'd like to fix everything between us, it's more important that we're prepared to deal with this if things go south. Clark is most likely searching for Bizarro right now, even after being told that it wants to possess him."

"Hctiws," Zatanna said, glancing at her suit. In the blink of an eye, she was dressed as Arcana. "We can talk about _us_ when we're done. From what I've seen of Clark Kent's powers, we do not want to deal with him when he's possessed."

"Fortunately, magic bypasses Kryptonian invulnerability," Harry told her. "Under the yellow sun, they heal fast enough that it appears to be a little less effective though."

"We are best suited for this if things go badly then," Zatanna remarked.

"I should tell you the plan before we leave," Harry told her as he walked over to the cabinet and retrieved his staff. "So this is what we're going to do…."

She looked pleased that he was finally including her in his plans.

* * *

Shortly after the plan was explained, a complication arose. Lionel called to tell Harry that Lana Lang just died as a result of a car bomb. And the worst part was that Clark had just found out.

Harry was intelligent enough to see how things would go. If Lana Lang died after telling Clark that she was leaving Lex, then Clark would assume that Lex was responsible and go to confront him.

The tracking beacon that Harry had placed on Clark revealed that he was almost to Reeves Dam, the location of 33.1's main facility.

Harry picked Zatanna up and flew through the intangible wall, out of the door, through the trapdoor on the roof of the Sanctum. Once they were outside, he could fly as fast as their bodies could take it. He felt that any faster than two hundred miles an hour would have been too dangerous. If he was a scientist, he would have known exactly how fast he could go, but he was not one.

During the flight, Harry locked eyes with Zatanna and explained what happened using Legilimency. He was still not great at the ability, but dealing with surface thoughts was not that difficult or dangerous.

They landed on the bridge that led to the dam and immediately began to run towards the door.

Harry grabbed Zatanna's shoulder and turned them invisible suddenly. It was just in time for Lex Luthor to come around the corner, running. They let him pass before they turned visible and ran towards where he came from.

They found Clark quickly, but a complication had arisen.

Standing across from Clark was a second Clark Kent. His shirt and jacket colors had been reversed, however.

"So, he didn't try to possess you," Harry remarked as he approached Clark. "Even so, you were a dumbass for seeking him out."

"Ah, Harry… I should have known you'd be around. You're aloof and like to act like you're all-knowing. Most of the time, you know what you're talking about, but that doesn't stop people from wanting to act against you," Bizarro said, chuckling. "Yes, he would have been smart to listen to you, but no one will listen to you when they constantly feel as though your motives are hidden."

"So it's true… you do know everything that Clark knew," Harry commented with a smile. "Good luck, Clark."

With that, Harry actually turned away from them and began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Bizarro asked, unnerved by the sudden action.

"Clark, he's your problem. Deal with him. If you're not going to listen to my advice when I offer it, you obviously don't need my help," Harry said sarcastically.

Locking eyes with Zatanna, Harry projected something into her mind.

She saw a brief memory of Harry speaking to the spirit of Jor-El. He mentioned the possibility that Bizarro would only use a fragment of Clark's DNA, resulting in having his powers flipped so that Kryptonite empowered him and the sun weakened him.

The Blue Kryptonite plan was too dangerous because of that. It would either result in Bizarro gaining so much power that he blew up or simply became some kind of Super Kryptonian.

"Let's evacuate everyone out of the dam," Harry told her once they were out of sight. They could hear Clark and Bizarro begin to fight. "I'll try to figure out a new plan in the meantime."

"We need to split up then," Zatanna told him. "This place won't last long if they fight here."

"You're right," Harry admitted. "Go out front and deal with everyone there. Be careful."

With that, he flew down the corridor to start making sure everyone was evacuated.

* * *

Zatanna was not amused when Harry left so abruptly, but she understood when she walked out the front door and saw quite a few cops.

"Retla ym eciov," she muttered under her breath. She then spoke as loud as she could. Her voice gained a mystical quality that made it unrecognizable. "Everyone needs to evacuate now! There's been an accident, and the dam is not going to be standing for much longer."

"It's Arcana!" more than one police officer exclaimed.

Zatanna noticed that Lex Luthor was sitting in the back of a police car at the moment. After he obtained her father's book, it pleased her to see him back there.

"We need to evacuate immediately," an officer said, exuding authority. "Thank you for your assistance, Arcana."

"But sir, we were supposed to bring them in for questioning if we ran into one of the vigilantes," a young, boisterous officer argued.

"Good luck with that," the superior officer said, snorting in amusement. "If you even tried, you'd just piss Emrys off, and I do not want to personally see why he's feared."

With that, he ordered everyone back to their cars.

Though the one officer still opposed the decision to leave her alone, he did as he was told to.

Before long, they all left the dam. It was just in time too.

* * *

Using his ability to fly and apparate, Harry had evacuated everyone but two people from the dam.

The final two were Chloe Sullivan and Lois Lane.

"What happened?" Harry asked as he landed next to them. Chloe was lying on the ground, looking as though she had been seriously injured, and Lois was covered in blood.

He had never met Chloe's cousin, but he had seen her with Oliver occasionally.

"Emrys?" Lois asked, shocked to see the masked vigilante there. She shook her head, pushing that thought to the side. "I don't know. I was stabbed by that knife, and I was sure that I had died. Next thing I know, I wake up next to her." She pointed to the blood soaked knife a dozen feet away as she spoke.

Harry closed his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on. It sounded as if Chloe had some kind of ability. There was no way that Lois was lying. She had a hole in her shirt that fit the story too perfectly, and he could see that she was being honest with Passive Legilimency.

Suddenly, Fawkes appeared next to him, startling Lois.

"You felt me through the bond, didn't you?" Harry asked his familiar, receiving a sorrowful melody from Fawkes.

"Is that a phoenix?" Lois asked under her breath.

"Yes, he is," Harry confirmed.

Suddenly, a melody came from Fawkes that sounded relieved.

"Your friend is not in danger of dying," Harry told Lois. "I have a friend that will look after her and make sure she makes a full recovery. But you can't come with her. You'll see her by tomorrow at the latest though."

Before Lois could say anything else, Fawkes landed on her shoulder and flamed away, taking her with him.

Harry, on the other hand, picked Chloe up and apparated to the basement of Andromeda's home.

"Andy, I need your help," Harry called out. Within moments, she made her way down the stairs. "Please keep an eye on this girl. She's a friend of a friend."

"What happened to her?" Andromeda asked, looking over her in concern.

"She seems to have some strange healing ability. Don't freak out if her heart stops. According to Fawkes, she won't die very easily. Even if her heart stops, it'll restart before too long. Honestly, I don't know if it's possible to kill her without cutting her head off. Fawkes recognizes people with unusual healing abilities, but it's not an exact art. Just keep an eye on her and try to keep her calm until I can get back."

Andromeda nodded her head, a little confused. Things like this were out of what she had typically dealt with in the past.

Taking a deep breath, Harry apparated back to Zatanna.

* * *

Apparently, Harry arrived next to Zatana at just the right time.

The dam had burst, and a massive wave of water was headed towards them.

Zatanna had actually moved away from the dam itself so that she would have a better chance of containing it with her magic.

"Ezeerf!" she yelled with her hands out, but the wave of water only gained a frost look.

A basilisk made of fire flew above her head and met the wave of water head-on. Harry's eyes were glowing and he was exuding power that she had never witnesses before.

In the face of fiendfyre, the wave of water mostly evaporated. Some of the wave broke off and washed over the wooded areas to both sides of Harry. There was more water still coming through though. As the dam no longer held back the Morley Reservoir, there was simply too much water for a simple spell to take out.

He flew directly up into the air and pointed his open palms at the continuing flow of water.

"Freeze," Harry said, not even bothering with a spell of any kind. He was simply bending his magic to his will. It was difficult to manipulate it in such an unconventional way, but he watched as the water actually began to turn to ice.

"Ezeerf!" Zatanna yelled. Her spell gave his a push and turned the water into a solid piece of ice.

"Zee, I need to go and check on Clark. Make sure that this doesn't melt before I'm back. There's too much for me to deal with by myself, so I'll need some help getting rid of it later."

"You do that. I just need to take a breather," Zatanna told him, sitting down on a rock.

Harry quickly flew off towards Clark and found Clark and Bizarro near an electric pole. There was a dead passerby not too far from Bizarro.

"Clark, what are you waiting for?" Harry asked as he arrived. "You're in the sun. You should be able to beat him by now."

"Did you get everyone out of the dam?" Clark asked instead, not taking his eyes off of Bizarro.

"Of course I did," Harry said, shaking his head. "Hurry up and deal with the copycat."

"Why am I weaker in sunlight?" Bizarro demanded as he sped towards Harry. Before he reached him, Clark hit him with an uppercut, sending him flying into the air.

"You're a failed experiment," Harry stated. It was a half-truth. He was failure in Jor-El's eyes, but that was not why he was weakened by the yellow sun.

"I will not be beaten by you!" Bizarro yelled as he flew into the air and used his heat vision.

It was aimed at Harry.

Much to his surprise, Clark flew between them and used his own heat vision to counteract Bizarro's.

At this point, Harry realized that dealing with Bizarro was not going to be a simple matter. He had tried to come up with a plan to deal with Bizarro, but he was mostly at a loss. Unless Bizarro managed to get within the range of the ward on his ring, he had no way of hitting Bizarro with a curse that could kill him. Not that he relished the thought of killing a look-alike of Clark in the first place.

An idea suddenly came to him. He had disregarded it earlier, but if it did not work, he would be able to fire off a powerful curse before Bizarro could react.

Bizarro was too distracted to notice Harry disappear.

Reappearing in the air behind him, Harry removed the blue kryptonite from his pocket and pressed it against Bizarro's back.

Before anyone else could react, a blur of red shot through the air, grabbed Bizarro, and threw him into the air.

Harry saw that J'onn had arrived.

Much to his relief, Bizarro exploded as he reached the apex of his flight.

"Blue Kryptonite was a good idea," J'onn remarked, taking a look at the now clear stone that Harry held.

"I was not sure if it would work," Harry admitted. "Jor-El said that it would either empower him further than any Kryptonian should be or make him explode by doing that exact thing."

"I was not sure either," J'onn confessed. "But if it had failed, I would have taken him to Mars. On the sunny side, Bizarro would be powerless unless there was a solar eclipse on Mars."

"All that matters is that it worked out in the end," Harry said, breathing heavily.

"I didn't think you'd come to help," Clark said, looking between them both. He was slowly flying up to them.

"I did not help defeat him. I simply ensured that you were both out of the blast range," J'onn pointed out.

"You were still an idiot to seek him out, but you are still my friend. Feel free to ask me the next time you need help," Harry told him. "Now, I need your help… and maybe Raya's. I froze the water that escaped from the dam. You guys have super strength and can fly, so can you move the ice to the ocean or something for me?"

"Of course," J'onn agreed as Clark nodded his head. "I will go and get Raya, just to be on the safe side." He quickly flew off.

Once he was gone, Harry said, "So, you must be almost finished with your training."

"Jor-El said that my training would be finished once I dealt with all the Zoners and stopped allowing my attachments get in the way of my responsibilities," Clark said, frowning. "I have full control of my powers now, I've finished training in how to fight, and I've learned quite a bit about Krypton. But even with all that, I just can't seem to let go of Lana. I've just been thinking about her so much…"

"That makes one of you," Harry said, shaking his head. "Clark, I can summon the spirits of the dead as easily as you can use your heat vision. I attempted to summon Lana Lang after J'onn left. Only I would have been able to see her, but it would have given you closure if I passed on a message. But, I can't summon her. That only happens if the person is still alive."

Clark looked dumbstruck at what Harry was implying.

"She faked her own death?" Clark asked softly.

"It's the only explanation. Lionel Luthor saw her go to get in the car just moments before the car exploded. They positively identified her remains. From what I've heard about 33.1, Lex Luthor is capable of cloning, but do you honestly think he knew that her death was faked?"

"No," Clark whispered, remembering the shocked look on Lex's face during their confrontation.

"You love the idea of her. She was the first love of your life, but she would have told you the truth if she loved you," Harry said, knowing full well how harsh he was acting. "And in all honesty, do you really think it's right to be with a mortal girl? Ignoring the fact that you could snap a human's bones like they were twigs, I have spoken with the real Jor-El. By his own admission, he has no idea how long a Kryptonian can live on Earth. What he did know, however, is that the yellow sun will slow your aging drastically. Do you really want to be with a woman, only to watch her grow old and die before you even look like you're in your forties? That may be an underestimate too. For all we know, you'll still be alive when the sun turns red."

The full impact of his words hit Clark like a freight train.

Nothing more was said until Raya and J'onn showed up.

After explaining the full situation, the three aliens headed to move the ice to safety, while Harry picked Zatanna up and apparated to the Sanctum with her.

* * *

Harry had left Zatanna on his bed in the Sanctum before heading to Andromeda's place. She was feeling the effects of magical exhaustion as a result of expending so much more magical power than normal. Her presence inside the wards and the intersecting ley lines would return her to normal in an hour or so.

"Hello Chloe," Harry said as he walked into the basement and saw that their guest had woken up. "You gave us a scare."

"Harry?" Chloe asked in surprise.

"I found you while I was helping evacuate Reeves Dam. Clark and the last phantom had a few rounds there. It's pretty much gone now. On the plus side, all the Zoners are dealt with," Harry told her, removing his mask. "Clark can tell you when you see him. But we have something we need to discuss. You used your power to save your cousin's life. My phoenix familiar told me that your heart would temporary stop before you recovered from the aftereffects of using your power. That's why I did not send you to the hospital. You don't want to end up in a morgue."

"Thank you for sparing me that," Chloe said quietly, her face pale. "I don't even know how I helped her. I just found her bleeding and didn't know what to do."

"Well, she's fine," Harry told her. "If you want, I can take you to Clark's and you can call Lois from there."

"I'd like that," Chloe said, smiling. "Thank you for this."

"It's what I do," Harry stated.

* * *

"So, how did everything go?" Harry asked. It was almost sunset, and he was at the Kent Farm, seated at the kitchen table. Lois and Chloe had just left.

"It wasn't that hard to move the ice," Clark admitted. "I might have been able to pick it up on my own, though it was faster with all three of us doing it."

"What did Jor-El say after you dealt with it?" Harry asked curiously.

"I'm done with my training," Clark said after a moment of silence. "Jor-El showed me flashes of all my tests and trials. Once it was over, I saw this hologram of my parents that was left as a message for me. And after it ended… Jor-El disappeared. He's no longer in the Fortress of Solitude. I guess he wanted me to do things my own way, so the AI only lasted as long as my training was going on."

"What are you going to do from here?" Harry asked, thinking of how he felt when he saw his parents through the Resurrection Stone.

"I'm not sure," Clark admitted. "I thought about following your example and actively using my powers to help people and not just when trouble comes knocking at my door. But I don't think I could wear a mask and do it. I'm being the real me when I going around and helping people. If anything, the real disguise is me trying to act normal."

"Then take it further," Harry told him. "Be yourself when you use your powers to help people. When you're being the normal you, just take the disguise further. I could probably enchant a pair of glasses for you to wear. They could make people stop paying attention to your face. I can even make it so that people automatically discredit the notion of you being the hero, even if they have compared your picture now and your picture as the hero. Unfortunately, foreknowledge is a bitch. If anyone knows your secret, they will suspect you since they know about your powers and will be reminded of them. If they truly believe that you are one in the same, the enchantment won't affect someone."

"I could do that," Clark said after thinking about it. It was an interesting idea, and the enchantment did make things easier. The only issue was that there were people out there that knew about his powers. Lex at least suspected that he was different, as well.

"Do not worry about Lex Luthor. Not about him uncovering your secret, at least," Harry added suddenly. "I will deal with him soon."

That alarmed Clark.

"I have no intention of killing or crippling him," Harry said, shaking his head. The look on Clark's face was enough to read his suspicions. "I need to make sure that he won't be motivated to continue 33.1. Rest assured that there is a line that I will not cross."

Clark looked a little skeptical, but he nodded his head all the same.

"If you need any help getting everything ready, just call me. Your other friends may be able to help you too," Harry said as he rose to his feet. "In the meantime, I need to head back home. I'll bring you the glasses I mentioned tomorrow. It's up to you how you use them or what you do with your abilities. That said, Metropolis is going to need a new hero before too long."

Harry headed towards the door on that note.

"What do you mean?" Clark asked as Harry reached the door.

"There comes a point in a hero's life when they start to see the big picture and understand the full impact of their actions. Our actions today made a greater impact than we have in the last several months combined. It's given me a new perspective," Harry told him.

He headed to his car and departed the Kent Farm once he was done talking.

* * *

When Harry arrived back at the Sanctum, he saw that Zatanna was awake and fully rested.

"I was beginning to wonder if you'd show up," she remarked when she saw him enter the bedroom. She was actually still wearing her Arcana suit.

"I never considered doing otherwise," Harry told her. "I think we've earned ourselves a day off though."

"For me, it's literally a day off," Zatanna said, shaking her head. "Since I wasn't feeling so hot, I had to reschedule my show for Sunday."

"I'm sure they'll understand," Harry said.

Zatanna nodded her head. "You know that we still have to talk, right?"

"Of course," Harry replied. "That's why I'm kind of glad that we're taking the night off. We need to get some things out in the open."

"We do," Zatanna agreed. "First of all, I should point out that it's not just your fault that we've been growing apart. I've been so caught up in trying to get to the point that I can start learning alchemy that I just stopped focusing on us."

"Moderation might be for the best," Harry noted. "I've had the same problem but with other things. I think I might need to stop calling upon the spirits of the dead so much. A drive to grow stronger isn't a bad thing, but it's easy to get lost in it all when you have access to so many people that no one else can learn from anymore."

Zatanna nodded her head, thinking about how she would be affected by something like that.

"I think that there's something else getting in the way too," Harry said, looking away. "I think you deserve to know more about my past. Maybe it'll explain why I'm the way I am. And maybe it'll help you get me back on track if I start drifting away again."

With that, he began to tell her about the one part of his past that he never outright talked about to anyone else: his childhood with the Dursley family.

It was a long night full of talking. In the end, they fell asleep in each other's arms.

* * *

Author's Note: In this chapter, you can see some developments that have come about from the catalysts mentioned in the last chapter, along with the catalyst that is Raya.

I hope that it does not appear that things are developing too fast, but I don't think I've gone overboard on it so far.

The biggest two developments of this chapter, naturally, were Clark finishing his training completely and things getting resolved between Harry and Zatanna. As you can see, I chose not to split them up. I never planned on doing it, but it had been briefly considered.

Now, if anyone can figure out what Harry's plan is from this point (in regards to Lex or just in general) and can guess correctly, I will answer any question that they have about this story. I'd offer something else, but I feel cheap when I offer kudos or cyber cookies.

On a side note, has anyone else seen Kara's new suit in the latest chapter of the Argo arc? That's the current arc of Smallville Season 11, by the way. It has Clark and Booster Gold go to the 31st century, where he finds that the last Kryptonians (the descendants of the ones he sent to Argo with the Book of Rao) and Earth are at war. I have two pictures of the cover linked to my profile, so you can see her new suit even if you don't read the series. For the record, I only started reading it after I started this fanfic.

Due to my recent decision to adapt some of the New 52 material, I'd probably have Kara wear her New 52 suit instead, but her new Smallville suit could be adapted for Arcana.

Now that I mentioned Zatanna, I suppose I should say something. Zatanna only really appeared in two episodes with her being seen or mentioned in three others. As such, my Zatanna may appear to act more like the New 52 Zatanna. As I read Justice League Dark, it's easier for me to grasp her personality in that series than in Smallville. I apologize if that bothers anyone.

Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. It is thanks to you guys and girls that this story has received daily updates and is currently my second longest fanfic.


	19. Kara

**18. Kara**

Harry yawned as he made his way through the woods, remaining hidden with the power of the Cloak.

It had already been a long day for him.

He left the Sanctum around four in the morning and quietly made his way to visit Lex Luthor in his jail cell. Three drops of Veritaserum later, Harry had learned where Lex kept all the information that was deemed important.

Naturally, Lex was made to forget that such a conversation ever happened in the first place. That did not mean that he was unchanged by the encounter though. Harry placed a compulsion upon him to prevent him from killing Lana Lang when he tracked her down.

After that, Harry had spent a couple hours transfiguring and enchanting a pair of glasses for Clark. Enchanting an item was not one of the talents that he excelled at, but his enchantments had a tendency to be powerful thanks to his power and the Elder Wand's powers.

In the end, the glasses would prevent people from even taking notice of what his face looked like, distort how his eyes looked enough to make it harder to compare him to his hero identity, appear to actually be corrective lens if anyone but Clark looked through them, and return to Clark's nightstand at the Kent Farm if they were ever lost.

But Clark was not at the Kent Farm when Harry was finished with them. He had not yet deactivated his tracking charm, so he was able to find Clark near Reeves Dam without a problem.

Upon arriving, Harry could not help but be surprised as he witnessed Clark and Lois encounter someone with powers that were too similar to Clark's. They had discovered a spaceship right before they saw her.

Harry had allowed both parties to leave before he became visible. He did not even react when Clark and the super-powered girl clashed briefly. He did, however, tag her with a tracking charm during the encounter.

Once they were gone, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"J'onn, head to Reeves Dam," Harry said when his ally answered the phone. "There's something you need to see." Once J'onn agreed with his request, he hung the phone up.

He knew that J'onn could find him easy once he was in the area, so his exact location did not matter.

"Kryptonian," Harry muttered as he traced one of the emblems on the ship with his finger.

"You people just don't learn," the blonde girl said as she suddenly landed behind him.

"Neither do you," Harry said as he summoned a piece of Kryptonite to his hand and held it in front of her. He had seen Clark get too close to it earlier, so he had not even needed to look for any.

"What's going on?" she asked under her breath as she was forced to back away from him.

"Is that the Mark of El," Harry suddenly asked, lowering the piece of Kryptonite. Her bracelet bore the same image that Jor-El's spirit wore on his clothes and that Clark had on his crystal before Bizarro destroyed it.

"You know the Mark of El?" she asked in surprise.

"Kara Zor-El? What are you doing here?"

Kara suddenly spun around and saw J'onn walking towards her.

"Me? What about you, Martian?" Kara asked, sounding defensively.

"J'onn, do you know her?" Harry asked in concern.

"This is Kara, the daughter of Zor-El. That makes her Kal-El's cousin," J'onn explained.

"You know where Kal-El is?" Kara asked in shock.

"It would be best that you came with me. Much has happened since you left Krypton," J'onn said, moving towards her. "We have not gotten along in the past, but you're just going to have to trust me. Things are different now."

Kara did not look like she wanted to do it, but she nodded her head eventually.

"J'onn, I'm going to move the ship where it can't be found by just anyone," Harry said as he placed a hand on the ship.

"Take it to the Fortress and have Raya help you," J'onn replied.

Kara looked even more displeased upon hearing that they were taking her ship, but she stopped in her tracks when she heard that name.

"Raya's here?"

"All will be explained if you come with me," J'onn told her.

That was all she needed to hear, prompting them to fly towards the Kent Farm.

Harry closed his eyes and apparated to the Fortress of Solitude with the ship, a feat that left him exhausted afterwards.

* * *

After dealing with the ship and dropping off Clark's glasses, Harry had returned to the Sanctum and found a newspaper waiting on the table in the Great Hall. Picking it up, he read the headline.

_Superheroes Among Us_

It was a detailed story of the heroic actions of Emrys and Arcana at Reeves Dam. There was actually a picture in the paper of Harry flying in front of the massive block of ice with Arcana on the ground below him. It was not a great picture, but it was enough to sell more copies.

In a single day, Emrys and Arcana had ceased being masked vigilantes and had become superheroes.

"How'd everything go?" Zatanna asked as she walked into the room.

"Interesting," Harry answered after a moment of thought. "Clark's cousin showed up today. I'll get the full story later, but it looks like we now have three Kryptonians on Earth."

Zatanna looked surprised to hear that, but it did not really affect her that much when she thought about it.

"What happened?"

Harry told her about the encounter, which only served to prove that he did not know about the situation in full.

Once it was over, Zatanna decided to address another matter. "Do you plan on making a reappearance as Emrys tonight?"

"I have some work to do tonight," Harry told her. "I'll at least make sure to do a quick patrol before I head home. Don't worry about patrolling tonight. Just focus on your show."

"What exactly are you going to be doing?" Zatanna asked in concern.

"People need to be made to forget certain things. J'onn and Raya are helping me, so I won't be alone," Harry answered with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm just making sure that Clark's secret is safe and that certain plans only exist in one man's head. I'll tell you all about it once it's done."

She seemed content with that explanation.

"And when are you planning on ceasing our patrols?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"At the end of the month," Harry replied. "After that, I'll leave Metropolis to Clark… and maybe his cousin."

"Who will you approach first?" Zatanna asked curiously.

"I'm going to pay a visit to Star City," he told her.

With that, they began to discuss his new plan as a hero.

* * *

By the next morning, all of Clark's enemies that had learned about his powers found that they could not even remember meeting anyone by the name of Clark Kent. The identities of Bart Allen and Victor Stone were likewise forgotten. Only Lex Luthor still remembered, and he had no reason to even bring such things up.

They were thorough too. Raya and Lionel Luthor actually worked together to eliminate any paper evidence or digital files that would have revealed such information, among other things.

Around noon, he headed over to the Kent Farm and saw that Clark, Kara, and J'onn appeared to be having a heated discussion. There was a blue crystal on the table between them.

"Whatever Zor-El intended, the crystal is bad news," J'onn was saying.

"I know you and Jor-El were friends, but my father was not a bad man," Kara argued.

Clark seemed to be unsure about what to do or say.

"What's going on?" Harry asked as he walked into the room, startling all three of them.

"Kara's father, Zor-El, included a crystal in her ship containing her directives and other information to help her," Clark replied without hesitation. After the Bizarro incident, he knew better than to withhold information from Harry when he could help. "J'onn believes that it's part of a plot to harm me. Our fathers had a feud going on."

Nodding, Harry reached into his mokeskin pouch and removed a Sneakoscope. He moved towards the table and frowned as it started going haywire.

"Step out of the room," he told them. "I need to make sure you're not interfering with my test."

"What is that?" Kara asked, staying still. Clark and J'onn had both stepped away from the table when she spoke.

"It is a Sneakoscope. It lights up, spins, and whistles whenever there is someone or something untrustworthy close to it," Harry said as he set it down on the table right next to the crystal. It looked just like a glass spinning top.

"You can't seriously mean that you trust him over me," Kara argued, looking at Clark.

"He means nothing of the sort," J'onn interjected. "However, it is quite possible that your father lied about its meaning."

That did not make Kara look any happier, but she left the room with the other aliens.

"So what does it do?" Harry asked under his breath as the dark detector continued to spin. The crystal was definitely the source of the disturbance, but if he did not find out what exactly it did, then he had a feeling that it would end up badly.

Sighing, he put the sneakoscope up and decided to get a little help, even if he had not wished to use that route so soon again.

"Jor-El, what am I looking at?" he asked as the spirit of Jor-El appeared on the other side of the table.

"Nothing good, I'm afraid," Jor-El stated as he looked closely at the crystal. "I recognize Zor-El's handy work anywhere. Only a Kryptonian could destroy the crystal.

Suddenly, Clark walked into the room and moved towards the crystal.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he stepped in Clark's way.

"Can't you hear it?" Clark asked with narrowed eyes. "My mother's calling for help."

"Lara is dead," Jor-El stated, to which Harry repeated.

"Ask J'onn. Ask Raya. But before you try to take that crystal and do something stupid, try to remember what happened the last time you ignored me."

That seemed to break the hold that the crystal had on Clark.

"It's a trap," Harry said, dismissing Jor-El's spirit and picking up the crystal.

"You can't be serious," Kara argued as she walked back into the room. "I don't care what you say. My father wouldn't make this a trap."

"J'onn, her memories have been altered," Harry said in alarm, getting a peak at an altered memory through Passive Legilimency. It reminded him of Horace Slughorn's memory, actually.

"Are you sure?" J'onn asked in concern.

Kara started to argue when Harry spoke again.

"I'm positive. You know what needs to be done."

J'onn reached out with his hand and emitted a faint glow of light from it to Kara's head before she could react.

Once it was over with, she dropped to her knees with a horrified expression on her face.

"Destroy it," she said in a whisper. "I can't believe him…."

Instead of handing the crystal to Clark, Harry cloaked his hand in fiendfyre, incinerating the crystal.

Apparently, hellfire could destroy it, despite what Jor-El had believed. He was a scientist though, not a wizard.

It appeared to have surprised J'onn, though Clark was unaware of its durability and Kara had just learned some things that had her preoccupied.

"One day, I need to come over just to hang out," Harry muttered under his breath. He hated seeing a distraught girl, so seeing Kara at the moment was difficult for him.

"Thank you for your help," Kara said quietly.

"How about I bring Zatanna over tomorrow and we can just spend some time together?"

"I'd like that," she told him, forcing a smile. It was difficult to be cheerful after learning that her father had altered her memory, especially when she knew why.

* * *

That night, Harry walked through the halls of Luthor Manor, perfectly invisible.

It was unnecessary, seeing as how everyone inside the manor was asleep, including the guards. Still, he did not want to risk someone outside of the manor being able to watch the cameras.

Everyone in the manor had a portkey on their body that would activate the moment the clock struck midnight. It would deposit them just outside the front gates, and the object would cease to be a portkey.

He still had fifteen minutes to accomplish his task.

As he walked into Lex Luthor's bedroom, he smiled. The billionaire was fast asleep with the compulsion charm still on him.

Harry canceled the charm, knowing from Lionel that Lex had already set it up so that Lana could return without being legally dead, and the divorce was already being finalized.

Placing a hand over Lex's head, Harry prepared to do something that he had never done before.

A full memory wipe.

It would not take away his knowledge of how to walk, talk, use computers, or anything like that. But he would have no memory of being Lex Luthor. He would have no memory of anything that he had ever done. His memory was not going to be altered. It was going to be erased.

That was why he had gone through so much effort to stop Lex from having access to back-up information. If he forgot his suspicions about Clark and his knowledge about both Bart and Victor, then things would be relatively safe for three members of Oliver's team. Lionel and Raya had done their part well.

"Obliviate," Harry said, doing to Lex what Lockhard had done to himself in the past.

He did not leave after he finished the task.

Instead, he waited.

As soon as the portkeys activated, a serpent of fire formed above Harry's right hand. Dropping it onto the floor, he finally began to walk out.

Once he was out of the gates, he looked back at the manor and saw that it was burning in hellfire.

With a smile, he apparated to the Sanctum.

Without knowing it, Harry altered the future far more than he had thought possible.

The Orb had been hidden inside Luthor Manor. Contained within it were the clones of the Kandorian Army, along with clones of Jor-El and Zod. Like the crystal that Zor-El had given to Kara, the Orb had perished in hellfire. In the long term, Harry had just caused New Krypton to never rise as it would have in the future. But he was not looking that far into the future. The near future was more important to him in that moment.

* * *

Harry only returned to the Sanctum to put his suit on and grab his staff. Once he was suited up, he had Fawkes take him to Star City through flame travel. Like Harry, Fawkes could use his form of teleportation to appear in a place or near a person that he was familiar with. For that reason, Harry had asked him to fly to Star City while he was building the Sanctum. The main reason had been because that was where Oliver actually lived, but it served another purpose now.

Star City was in California, just north of San Francisco. As a result, the time change actually made it earlier by two hours.

As soon as he arrived, Harry let Fawkes return home and had begun to track his target.

It did not take long before he was able to do just that either.

He watched as a young man- a teen, really- clad in a red leather suit dealt with a few thugs using the same techniques and technology that Harry had seen Oliver use.

"You must be Red Arrow," Harry remarked as he revealed himself.

The teen spun around and pointed his bow at Harry with ease.

"And who are you?" he asked, his voice sounding too deep for a teen thanks to Oliver's technology.

"I am Emrys," Harry answered, smiling as he saw the shocked looks on the faces of the tied up thugs. He was the most well known vigilante in the United States. That was a recent development, but it remained true all the same.

"What are you doing here?" Red Arrow asked, his bow still drawn back.

"Stupefy," Harry muttered, shooting three bursts of red light from his right hand, hitting the thugs. Red Arrow released the bowstring when the spells were fired off. But Harry had expected it. "Immobulus."

The arrow came to a halt just a few feet from Harry.

"I was just ensuring that they could not hear us," Harry told him, unconcerned. "I'm part of your mentor's team. Like you, I'm a reserve member. But I'm not here about his team. I'm here about _your_ team."

Red Arrow looked surprised, thought Harry was not sure if it was because the arrow had been stopped or because of what Harry had said.

"What do you mean? My team?" Red Arrow asked, looking away from the floating arrow.

"Until you're older, _he_ is not going to even consider making you a full member of his team. Do you even know that they are going around the country shutting down facilities that are studying metahumans?" Harry asked.

The look on Red Arrow's face was enough.

"Do you know that his team currently consists of him, four other primary members, and three reserve members other than yourself? That's not counting the two that he is probably going to recruit soon," Harry continued.

That seemed to frustrate Red Arrow.

"No, I haven't been told anything about the team or his plans in a while," he admitted. "But what is this about _my_ team?"

"Oliver's team is the start of something great," Harry told him. He did not fail to notice that Red Arrow was surprised to hear Harry refer to his mentor by his first name. "But when you have a team of adult vigilantes, you're going to find that kids and teenagers aren't going to be included very much. My answer to this is to create a team of teen heroes. If you made a team of teen sidekicks and teen vigilantes throughout the country, they would all get experience for the big leagues, not to mention at working together."

Red Arrow looked intrigued by the concept, but Harry was not done yet.

"The biggest limitation I've seen is that I can't exactly ask a bunch of teens to move to another city altogether. At best, I could set something up that only comes together for things that can't be handled individually," Harry continued. "The idea is still in its early developments, but I know that I want you on the team. You're one of the first teenaged vigilantes that popped up lately. Maybe you're fit to be the team's leader. Maybe not. I won't know enough about you to make that call."

"I'm interested," Red Arrow told him.

"That's good to hear, Mr. Harper," Harry said, turning his back to Red Arrow. It was not hard to tell that he was shocked by how Harry had addressed him. "I'll be in touch when I've figured out more."

With that, Harry vanished.

* * *

Author's Note: And there's another chapter down.

As you can see here, this chapter actually had several important things happen. Kara and her crystal were dealt with, Harry did to Lex what Tess did to him at the end of Season 10 (but he was more thorough), and Harry is actually paving the way for the Teen Titans. I hope people like how I'm expanding the Smallville series into a wider DC universe. I always viewed it as a small part of the DC universe that it exists within.

For those of you who are wondering, Clark will be making his first appearance as Superman before too long. Whether he uses the Final Blur Suit or something more like his suit from Season 11 is currently undecided. He will not be wearing the older suits that follow the underwear-over-the-pants look though. That's a promise.

Now, I have to ask you to turn your attention to the poll on my profile. I'm faced with a decision that has me undecided. I found myself asking a simple question. Should Harry continue to maintain a secret identity?

There are two parts to the question, really. He maintains two secret identities in a sense. One is more of the hiding-in-plain-sight variety and is only considered secret because he is hiding his survival from the magical world. The other is the typical superhero's secret identity.

So I am offering you a chance to be heard. If you want Harry to continue as he is... if you want him to maintain his secret identity as a superhero but reveal that he is still alive to the magical world... or if you want Harry to reveal his survival to the magical world, while at the same time unmasking and publically revealing his identity... you can have your say in the poll. I prefer responses in the poll, but sometimes a well thought out pm or review will have a far greater impact than a dozen poll votes.

Thanks for reading and reviewing.


	20. Heroes

**19. Heroes**

Just after noon, Harry and Zatanna arrived at the Kent Farm.

Clark was actually waiting by the door for them, and he did not look very amused.

"Anything interesting in the news today?" Harry asked casually.

"Luthor Manor was completely reduced to ash," Clark remarked, looking at Harry carefully. "Nothing in it survived. Yet, everyone somehow managed to wake up outside of the gates. And to top it all off, Lionel tells me that Lex doesn't remember anything about his past."

"That's good news," Harry commented.

"Harry, what did you do?" Clark asked seriously. There was no room for joking around, apparently.

"I made sure that none of your past mistakes could reveal your secret to Lex, and I made him forget about Bart and Victor. If I wasn't thorough, I could have made a mistake. Plus, maybe it'll be better if he doesn't remember being possessed by Zod."

Clark did not even try to argue. Instead, he said, "Why did you have to burn down Luthor Manor?"

"None of them knew what brought them outside the manor. Waking up to discover that it had burned down was enough of an excuse to explain what could have given Lex amnesia. Trauma can do that, after all," Harry told him matter-of-factly. "Now, let's stop talking about that. We came to hang out with you and your cousin. I don't want to talk about a Luthor right now."

Clark just nodded and led the way.

When he had heard the story from Lionel, he had been positive that Harry was behind it, even if Lionel claimed to have no idea. Harry had admitted as much, and Clark could not find it in him to disagree with Harry's motives. It was not what he would have done, but it served a purpose all the same.

As soon as they walked into the kitchen, Kara smiled.

Walking over to Zatanna, she introduced herself. The girls really seemed to hit it off from the very beginning.

While they were talking, Harry started a conversation of his own with Clark.

"Any plans for a suit yet?" he asked.

"I have a temporary one," Clark told him. "Raya said that she was going to have a suit made for me, but it would take a little time."

"Oh?" Harry asked curiously.

"She took a job at S.T.A.R. Labs yesterday. They're planning on opening a facility in Metropolis, but it may take a little while before that happens. In the meantime, she's working in Manhattan," Clark explained. "Raya had an idea for a suit that would absorb yellow solar radiation faster than normal. It should give me a little more power when she's done with it. In the meantime, I'm just going to use this suit I made. I don't plan on letting anyone see me for a little while though. Even with the enchantment on my glasses, I want to give it some time before anyone sees what I look like."

"How's your disguise going?" Harry asked, nodding his head in interest.

"Chloe made some suggestions recently. She thinks if I get a normal job and act the part of a someone less… heroic… it'll be easier to keep my identity a secret," Clark answered. "I'm going to see if I can get a job at the Daily Planet soon. I'll need to be around enough to help Kara learn more about her powers and living on Earth, but I think I can get it to work."

"Maybe you can end up taking Kara with you on your nightly incursions," Harry suggested. "She might need one of her own if she decides to go down the same path that you are though."

"Maybe," Clark admitted, glancing at his cousin. "What about you? You might maintain a secret identity, but no one ever sees you."

"I have something in the words," Harry told him with a secretive smile.

* * *

In her apartment in Bludhaven, a woman in her late twenties was looking at a copy of the Daily Planet. The news of the fire at Luthor Manor and Lex's sudden memory loss were surprising, but she was getting used to surprises.

Just the day before, she was informed that a nanotransmitter had been located in her optic nerve. The news came straight from the founder of the company she worked for, Lionel Luthor.

They had removed it immediately, but it left questions about who was behind it in the first place.

Putting down the paper, she closed her eyes for a moment. The procedure was not invasive in the least, but it did make her eyes water quite frequently.

As she opened her eyes, she noticed a letter that was sitting on her bed.

Walking over to it, she picked it up. With great care, she opened the letter and pulled a handwritten message from it.

_Tess Mercer,_

_We have not had the pleasure of meeting yet, but I have heard great things about you._

_I hope your eyes are not bothering you after recent events. I'd hate to think that my assistance caused you too much discomfort._

_But on to more pressing matters._

_I have an offer for you that you won't refuse. Meet me at the Metro Coffee Shop in Metropolis tomorrow at one o'clock in the afternoon. I know you have the week off as a precaution because of your little procedure._

_Be prepared to open your mind._

_Sincerely,_

_HP_

The letter unnerved her more than she would have cared to admit. The writer clearly knew about the nanotransmitter, while also being able to walk right into her apartment without being noticed.

But at the same time, it intrigued her. She was not the type to back down from trouble.

So despite her concerns, Tess Mercer walked over and picked up her phone to call the airport.

* * *

The day at the Kent Farm went rather well. It was just a day of talking and watching movies together, but it was easy to see that they had all needed a simple day of relaxation.

However, it appeared to be at an end when Oliver Queen showed up.

"Oh, are you done already?" Harry asked innocently as Oliver walked into the room.

Oliver did not answer the question. Instead, he looked a little angry.

"I know what you did."

Clark looked between them, unsure what Oliver was referring to, but he did not have to ask. Harry did it for him.

"I do a lot of things. You're going to have to be more specific than that," Harry said flatly.

"I know what you did in Star City last night," Oliver elaborated. "You're the one that chose not to join my team as a full member. So what possible reason do you have for seeking out my sidekick and trying to recruit him?"

"You're acting ridiculous," Harry said, shaking his head. "Do you really want to be so obvious in front of a girl that doesn't know your secret, by the way?"

Oliver only noticed Kara's presence after that point.

"She's Clark's cousin from _that_ side of the family tree," Harry said, laughing at the shocked look on his face. "But if you really want to bring this subject up, then I'll explain myself. I'm not making a team for me. I planned on going around and recruiting teen metahumans and teens that just work as masked vigilantes. If someone from the previous generation served as a mentor to the team, we could make sure that they are prepared for the life before they really go out on their own. It would also be a good way to transition someone from being a sidekick to joining your team as a full member. If you had waited a little while, I would have gone to you, just like I'm going to the JSA. This isn't going to be a branch of your team, but neither is it going to be a branch of the JSA. Now, are you doing being an ass-hat, or should I make you feel like an even bigger idiot?"

Kara could not help herself. She busted up laughing, and she was shortly followed by Zatanna. Even Clark had a smile on his face.

"You should have come to me before you went to Roy," Oliver said, not giving up, even if he recognized that he was losing.

"Why? Red Arrow is not your sidekick anymore. If you wanted him to be your sidekick, you shouldn't have left him to take care of Star City by himself."

"I'll be there now. After everything that's happened, 33.1 has been completely shut down," Oliver said firmly.

"But will he want to be your sidekick again?" Harry countered. "Once you have a taste of it, going back to hiding in someone's shadow and following orders is difficult to say the least."

He remembered how it felt when the Order of the Phoenix had tried to treat him like a kid after all that he had gone through during his first four years at Hogwarts. It made his fist clench to even think about it.

In a way, the team he had thought of was intended to be like Dumbledore's Army. It had helped prepare them for the war, after all.

That was what his plan was for the team, after all.

"He will," Oliver said, though his tone lacked conviction.

"Good luck with that," Harry remarked. He then glanced down at his watch and looked at Zatanna. "Sorry Clark, but we've got to run. We have an appointment to keep."

They left once Clark and Kara said their farewells. It was not hard to see what had actually prompted the sudden departure.

* * *

After leaving the Kent Farm, the pair had driven to the warehouse in Metropolis.

When they walked in, they saw that Courtney Whitmore was training against several wooden posts using the staff that Harry had seen Sylvester hold not too long ago. She seemed to be able to shoot light from it.

"Sylvester, how is it going?" Harry asked as he walked in with Zatanna.

"It has been going well," Sylvester replied as he walked over to Harry. "What brings you and your friend here?"

In the background, Courtney had stopped and was paying close attention to the topic of discussion.

"What do you need in order to resurrect the JSA?" Harry asked, a serious look in his eyes.

Courtney's staff actually dropped to the ground as Sylvester looked shocked.

"Aren't you the one that said the JSA is a thing of the past?" Sylvester asked once he recovered.

"I'm a wizard, not a seer. I'm often wrong about the future," Harry remarked. "But regardless of what I believed in the past, I have a different perspective now. Maybe there's room for the JSA and Oliver's team to co-exist."

"And you? How do you fit into it?" Sylvester asked, noticing that he did not refer to it as his team.

"My role in his team is tentative at best," Harry admitted. "He disagrees with a recent decision of mine. It led to an altercation earlier today. But it doesn't matter. My place is not on his team. My place is elsewhere. I'll be around if I'm needed, but I don't plan on becoming a full member anytime in the near future."

"You have a plan, I suspect," Sylvester said.

"I do," Harry admitted. "The first part of my plan involves the JSA's reconstruction though. So what is it going to take?"

"I may be able to restart the JSA. As more heroes are surfacing, some of the older members may be more receptive," Sylvester replied, deep in thought. "But I need something else in order to pull it off. We need a new headquarters."

"Where do you want it?" Zatanna asked, interjecting herself into the conversation.

"It would need to be somewhere near Metropolis. I'd just use our old headquarters, but Checkmate knows about it," Sylvester admitted.

"I'll see what I can do. Within a few days, I should know more. You will have a place in Metropolis or just outside of it, even if I have to have it built myself," Zatanna told him.

If Sylvester was surprised to hear that Harry wanted the JSA brought back, he was flabbergasted to hear that Zatanna was going to get him a new headquarters just like that.

"Now that we have your attention, we want your help setting something up," Zatanna continued. She looked at Harry and nodded.

"I'd like to tell you about an idea of mine," Harry began.

And with that, Harry came to the crux of the visit, the Teen Titans.

* * *

Harry had learned a great deal from Lex Luthor thanks to Veritaserum. He had learned that Grant Gabriel, the editor of the Daily Planet, was a clone of Lex's dead brother. He had also learned that Lex had an older sister. And that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Harry had revealed what he knew to Lionel. It had been obvious that he knew nothing about Grant.

Before he wiped Lex's memory, Harry had paid Grant a visit and altered his memories of Lex so that he would have no idea that he was supposedly Lex's brother. But he had left Tess alone.

Harry did not trust Lionel Luthor. He believed that the man would do what he thought was right, but Voldemort had believed he was right when he tortured and murdered. But Harry could not remain a non-entity in the public world for long. His lack of knowledge stopped him from starting a business of his own or finding a good job.

So he had decided to find someone that he could work with and start up his own business.

Tess Mercer was his answer. If anyone could do what he needed done, it was her.

That was what led to him waiting at the coffee shop for her the day after she received his letter.

"Hello Miss Mercer," Harry greeted as the redheaded woman took a seat at his table. He silently placed an Imperturbable Charm around their table. He could easily remove it and put it back up at will, but he did not want much of their conversation heard.

"You must be HP," Tess stated as she sat down across from him.

"The name is Harry Potter," he told her. It kind of amused him that she was unable to do any research on him while he knew so much about her. "Are your eyes bothering you? After Lex's nanotransmitter was removed, I imagine they could be a little sore."

"Lex's nanotrasmitter?" Tess asked sharply.

"Lex Luthor had a nanotransmitter placed in your optic nerve back when he _saved_ you a year ago from that explosion," Harry replied, shocking her with the depth of his knowledge. "He admitted as much to me a few days ago. Fortunately, he doesn't remember that though. He doesn't even remember who you are."

"Why would he admit it to you?" Tess asked cautiously.

"I can be persuasive," Harry told her with a smile. "But before you get off track, let me provide you with something that will enlighten you on certain matters."

As he spoke, he removed a file from his jacket and handed it to her.

She opened the file without saying a word, only to find a birth certificate inside.

Her eyes widened as she read the name on it. The names had her even more shocked.

"Where did you get this?" she asked, while also wondering if the first name and hers were just a coincidence.

"Lionel Luthor gave it to me. His first born child, Lutessa Lena Luthor, was given up for adoption and had a falsified birth certificate given to the orphanage so that no one could link her to him. A couple from Louisiana ended up adopting her. Their last name was Mercer," Harry told her, his eyes never wavering as he stared at her. "And to top it all off, Lionel and Lex both knew that Lutessa, now known as Tess, worked for them. In fact, it was Lex that ensured that you'd be hired. I guess he wanted his enemies close. Or maybe he thought he could reveal your heritage one day and try to appeal to you as your brother."

Tess dropped the birth certificate, shocked at how she had been used all this time. She did not even bother to ask how he knew all of that.

"But I didn't come here to tell you who your birth family was," Harry continued. "I'd like to say that I only asked to meet with you so you could learn the truth, but I'd be lying if I did. I want your help with something. The deal might be better for me in the long run, but I'm not using you. You stand to gain more than you do as a LuthorCorp employee. Of course, it will only work if we can trust each other."

"What is it you want?" Tess asked, regaining her calm and growing serious. She could tell that there was no time to get emotional now.

"At the age of fifteen, you were accepted into Harvard. Two years later, you graduated and became a Marine Biologist. Sometime later, you were kidnapped while on a marine biology trip. I hear that you met Oliver Queen on the island and assisted in his escape, though the details remain a secret. You were known to have dated him shortly after that though," Harry said, once again surprising her with his knowledge. "But what I found interesting about you is that you have a head for business and care about the planet. They are not common attributes anymore."

"I'm different then," Tess replied.

"Different is good," Harry remarked. "What I want from you is simple. I want you to turn in your resignation and work with me."

"And why would I want to work for you?" Tess countered, though she did look intrigued.

"I did not say that," Harry said. "I don't want an employee. I want a partner. I inherited quite a bit of money, but I don't have a head for business. You, on the other hand, have just that. So I want you to quit your job and become my partner. I will provide the start-up costs, and you will run the business. As far as anyone else is concerned, I'd just be an investor. Fifty percent of the business would be yours, and the other fifty percent would be mine. It'll give you a chance to become great through your own merit. You could just demand your inheritance from Lionel, but you don't strike me as the kind of woman that wants to be given anything."

From the look in her eyes, he knew he was right.

"What kind of company is this?" she asked after a moment.

"Any kind of company that you want it to be," Harry told her honestly. "I will give you ten million dollars to start the company. It's up to you how you use it. If you need a little more, I might be able to raise it to fifteen million. Other than that, my only possible contributions would be natural remedies and maybe pranking supplies."

Tess knew that it was a good deal that he was offering her, even if he would profit more than she would after a few years.

"There has to be a catch," she said, looking him in the eyes.

"There is only one catch," Harry said, smiling. "I get to pick the name. That's the only catch."

She actually looked at him as if he had said that he wanted to become a pink elephant.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

Shaking her head, she asked, "What's the name of our company then?"

With a smile, Harry replied, "Marauder Industries."

* * *

While Harry was dealing with Tess, Zatanna was pulling up to the Kent Farm on her motorcycle.

As she pulled up, Kara came out, looking excited to see her.

"I'm so glad you're here," she said as soon as Zatanna got off her bike. "Kal started at the Daily Planet today, so I've been bored here. The chores he asked me to do around the farm didn't even take a few minutes."

"It's a good thing I'm here then," Zatanna laughed. "I take it you don't want to get a job as well?"

"It took three years to get to Earth and then I spent eighteen years in stasis, but I was nineteen when I left Krypton. A job is the last thing I want right now," Kara replied, shaking her head. "A job like yours wouldn't be so bad though."

"My job isn't too bad," Zatanna agreed. "But lately, I don't really care about it. I've been more focused on what I do as Arcana and on my relationship with Harry than my job as a stage magician."

"How's it going between you two?" Kara asked.

"It's going better," Zatanna admitted. "We've started talking more and I've been spending the night at his place most nights, but it's been a little while since we had sex. A little too long."

"Why don't you just have your way with him then?" Kara asked curiously.

"It's been a mixture of things. It doesn't help that it was that time of the month," Zatanna explained. "Things will get better when we stop doing patrols."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked, having heard all about Harry and Zatanna's patrols. "Are you leaving Metropolis?"

"We're not leaving, and we are still going to react to crimes that are in progress. But after the end of the month, we're going to start working on this plan of his. Hopefully, Clark and another friend of ours will be ready to handle most of the crime in Metropolis so we can do this," Zatanna told her. She had to remember that Kara was a good friend and knew her secret, but she still had no idea who Impulse, Cyborg, Aquaman, and Doctor Fate were. "You should think about helping Clark too. Having a partner helps."

"I'll think about it," Kara promised. She actually looked interested in the idea. Plus, it would give her more time to bond with her cousin. "But for now, I need to get a hang of my powers. I still don't know how to use my super hearing or super breath, and my heat vision could use some work."

"Maybe I can help you," Zatanna suggested. "I don't know too much about your abilities, but I could give you some practice. My magic should help me fix any messes that you might make too."

Kara nodded her head happily and led Zatanna out back so she could start to get some practice in.

* * *

Later in the day, Clark was making his way out of the Daily Planet. He had completely changed his look thanks to the glasses, a different style of clothes, and a different demeanor. It was hard acting mild-mannered and clumsy, but it promised to be worth it in the end.

Right before he had left the bullpen, Clark had received surprising news from Chloe. Apparently, Lana was already back in town. When he heard about it, Clark had felt nothing. It was strange since he had believed that he loved her, but all he felt towards her now as apathy.

He was broken from his thoughts upon seeing someone familiar outside of the Daily Planet.

"Hello Clark," J'onn said as he walked up to him. "How did your first day go?"

"It went well," Clark told him. Working with Chloe was pretty nice again, and it provided him with someone that could cover for him.

"You are not the only one to start a new job today," J'onn said, brushing aside his jacket. A shiny badge was revealed. "I've started working as a detective with the Metropolis Police Department. It will help me make a difference in my own way." Mentally, he projected one last thing into Clark's head. "The world is not ready to learn that there are aliens on Earth, so I will only use my powers where no one will be able to realize what happened."

"I wondered what you were going to do," Clark said as he walked alongside J'onn. "Now that my training is over, you and Raya don't have to look after me anymore."

"Yet, we are doing exactly that," J'onn replied, surprising him. "S.T.A.R. Labs was created with the express purpose of helping you fulfill your destiny. It was founded by Virgil Swann. And I will be around to help you if the need arises. Just because your training is over, that does not mean you are alone."

Clark smiled, reassured by J'onn's words.

* * *

Author's Note: Now, we're getting to the end of the first part of this tale. Somewhere between Chapter 20 and 25(excluding the Prologue), I plan on ending this. Unlike I've done previously, it will be continued as a sequel without any breaks or pauses. This mainly serves as an origin story for Emrys and Arcana.

It has recently been brought to my attention that some people think that the pairing of this is Harry/Zatanna/Kara.

It is not.

The pairing of this specific story is only Harry/Zatanna. I may consider adding another girl to the pairing in the next part, but it would be a HP girl if I did it.

Also, last chapter I asked a question about Harry's secret identity. It was decided that he will keep everything the same. However, it should be kept in mind that around 7 more HP characters will learn that Harry is alive. They won't appear until Part 2 though.

This chapter was lazily named, naturally. I had no idea what to call it, but then I thought about the fact that Emrys, Arcana, Superman, Supergirl, the Martian Manhunter, the Star-Spangled Kid, Stargirl, and Green Arrow all appear in this chapter, so I just called it Heroes. This chapter was mainly about Harry's plans starting to come into the open. I've had this planned for a while. Believe it or not, but the moment that Zatanna was chosen over Kara for the pairing, this was set into motion. I'm specifically referring to Harry choosing to only be a reserve member of Oliver's team in the near future and also helping the JSA return. It's all part of his plan.

And for those of you who are curious, Oliver's team now consists of Impulse, Cyborg, Aquaman, Doctor Fate, Black Canary, Angel of Vengeance/Valkyrie, Red Arrow (Reserve), Emrys (Reserve), Arcana (Reserve), Boyscout/Superman (Reserve). The only reason Luna still hasn't returned when Oliver did for a short time is because she went to see her father. It's not that important though.


	21. Calm Before the Storm

**20. Calm Before the Storm**

The next day, Harry led Zatanna towards a clearing within a stone's throw of the Sanctum.

"What are we doing?" Zatanna asked curiously as she walked alongside him. Not being told of his plans for the day had caught her off guard.

"Up until you became my partner, I regularly taught you all about magic. Afterwards, I really stopped teaching you, even if you did have access to my books and Luna did teach you about potions. That's going to change a little bit now," Harry told her. "Our styles of magic may be completely different, but there are things that I can still teach you. Tonight, I think I should start teaching you Occlumency so that no one can read your mind. But for now, I think we should go with something fun."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out two shrunken brooms. He quickly returned them to their original size, revealing his Firebolt and Nimbus Three Thousand.

"I'm going to teach you how to fly a broom," Harry said with a grin. "The wards will keep anyone from seeing us as long as we don't leave the property or go too high."

Zatanna could not stop a smile from showing itself on her face. She had wanted to learn how to fly for a while, after all.

He started off by showing her the correct way to mount a broom and then went on to how to take off and land a broom.

Once he was done teaching her, she did exactly as she had learned and took off into the air. Harry followed shortly afterwards.

Flying on a broom was something he generally preferred over his ability to fly without aid. It was more comfortable to face the direction that he was flying in, after all.

He quickly saw that Zatanna lacked his natural talent at flying. She was still better than Hermione or Neville, but she was not as good as any Quidditch player that he had played against.

She had a couple close calls where she nearly fell off her broom when she made a sudden turn, but Harry had been there in time whenever it happened.

After a few hours, they landed.

"That was fun," Zatanna told Harry before she gave him a kiss. "I can see why you love flying so much."

"That's just the tip of the iceberg," Harry replied with a grin. He had always loved dives and the other more difficult aspects of flying.

"You'll have to teach me how to fly like you do eventually," stated.

"I will," he promised.

They made their way back to the Sanctum shortly after that.

"I need to start looking for a place," she told him once they were back at the Sanctum. "I'd like to at least figure out what we need to do for the JSA by tomorrow."

"That's fine," Harry told her. "I told Tess that I'd come in and talk about my _herbal remedies_ today."

"Be careful," she told him. "If you start mass distributing potions, you may attract the attention of the ICW."

"That's why I'm going to limit them to simple potions that don't require magic to brew," Harry said, shaking his head. The more complicated potion required magic to brew, but those were generally potions that anyone could tell were magic.

* * *

"There are some interesting _remedies_ on this list," Tess remarked as she looked at a piece of paper that Harry had given her. "These use only natural ingredients and are not restricted by any laws, right?"

"I was part of an isolated community in Europe before I moved here. That's where I learned how to make these things. But even though I did not invent any of them, they aren't covered by any laws. All the ingredients are natural and legal."

Tess nodded, pleased to hear that. "I'll consider all of these, but the FDA will want to examine each one before we can sell it. It may be in our best interests to introduce them slowly. It'll give us time to build a brand and get them tested by the FDA."

"I've noticed that energy drinks are pretty popular," Harry said, removing a vial of Invigoration Draught from his jacket pocket. "Try some of the Invigoration Elixir and tell me what you think."

"I trust you wouldn't poison your partner," Tess remarked dryly as she took the vial. Without waiting for him to respond, she removed the cork and drank the vial.

Within moments, her eyes brightened and she looked as though she had just gotten a good night's rest.

"It's a little bland, but this is better than any energy drink I've ever seen," she told him, clearly impressed. "If we could add a little flavor to it, we could easily start our own line of energy drinks."

"I already asked my cousin about that," Harry said, deciding that it was best just to call Andromeda his cousin. "She said that sugar will ruin it, but natural flavors will not change how it works."

"That's very good to hear," she said, handing him the vial back. "I'll need a sample of it to give to the FDA. After we get that taken care of, we can work on setting everything up and adding flavors."

"I spoke with my partner in another, smaller business recently," Harry told her as he removed a tube of paste from his pocket. "He agreed to let me make and sell his bruise removal paste. It works quickly and could be a big seller."

"I don't have any bruises, so I'll have to take your word," Tess replied as she picked it up. "This energy drink and the bruise removal paste will become our first products as a manufacturer then. We'll need to come up with a subsidiary or two to actually make them, but it's a good start."

"What do you have planned for Marauder Industries outside of that?" Harry asked curiously.

"The biggest difficulty is that we don't have as much money as I would like," Tess admitted. "Ten million is more than most businesses have to start out, but we could rival LuthorCorp, Queen Industries, and WayneTech one day with our ideas."

"I can get you another ten million if you're willing to open this partnership up to another person. That would mean that we would each own one-third of the company instead of one-half though," Harry told her. Zatanna had expressed interest in becoming an investor. Really, he could probably convince her to invest half a billion dollars into Marauder Industries, but with that kind of investment, she would deserve to be the majority owner.

"I'm willing, but I want thirty-four percent while you and the investor both have thirty-three percent. That way, I become the majority shareholder. It's only fair since I'm running our company," Tess said, reminding Harry of a true Slytherin in that moment.

"Fine by me," Harry said with a shrug. It did not matter if she owned more than he did. As long as he was with Zatanna, he could overrule any decisions she made without a problem.

"In that case, I will start moving Marauder Industries into agriculture. LuthorCorp used to have a sizeable market in that area, but Lex shifted their focus to defense contracts. Agriculture is a somewhat safe market and will help us grow," she said, growing thoughtful.

"And what do you plan on doing with the rest of the money?" he asked.

"I plan on putting five million in manufacturing, another five million to buy a few small companies, and the final ten million in agriculture. That's how the budget looks so far, at least," Tess answered.

"That's good to hear," Harry said as he rose to his feet. "I'll let you handle things then. I'll have you another sample of the energy drink tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," Tess replied.

Once Harry left, she smiled. Things were definitely looking up for her. She idly wondered how long it would take for Oliver to learn that she was in Metropolis.

* * *

Upon arriving back at the Sanctum, Harry was surprised to find Zatanna talking with Luna.

"I didn't realize you were back yet," he said as he gave his friend a hug.

"I just came back today. I wanted to go home for a little while."

"I can understand that," Harry said. He did enjoy visiting Godric's Hollow and Grimmauld Place when he had been gone for a while.

"Zatanna told me about your plans," Luna added.

"You'll be the first person I invite to join," Harry promised, making her smile.

"I know. That's just how you are," she replied with a bright smile. "Until _it_ is ready, I will stay as an active part of Oliver's team though."

"Fair enough." It did make sense for her to do that.

Turning to Zatanna, Harry asked, "Did you have any luck with your project?"

"In a way. I decided to do something else," Zatanna told him. "I found a good place for their headquarters outside of Metropolis, but it doesn't have anything on it. So instead of having something new built, I'm going to have their old headquarters moved there. I'll need to adjust for the electricity and the plumbing, but I think I have it figured out."

"That's an interesting idea," Harry admitted. "I have news about Marauder Industries too."

He told her about the meeting he had just come from.

"You have another partner then," Zatanna told him once he was done. "But we can talk about that later. For now, I'd like to spend some more time with Luna."

* * *

In the end, Zatanna and Luna had decided to have a girl's night out, while Harry spent some time at the Kent Farm. They had dropped him off at the farm so that they could get Kara to go with them.

So while the girls were going to have some fun, Harry was going to spend some time with Clark.

"Things have been exciting lately," Harry remarked after the girls were gone.

"They have," Clark agreed. So much had changed in the last six months that it was hard to really grasp it all.

"When are you going to make your debut, Boyscout?" Harry asked teasingly.

"I did today, actually," Clark answered sheepishly. "I used my super speed to save someone from being mugged today. The woman saw a blur, but that was it. I'll probably wait about a month before I actually let anyone see me though. I just want to make sure no one recognizes me. As it is, I think I might have to tell Lois the truth. Otherwise, she will figure it out."

"I can alter her memory to think that you always wore glasses and were clumsy," Harry said, but Clark shook his head adamantly.

"No offense, but I don't like the idea of wiping or altering memories. Maybe it's necessary at times, but I'd rather not go down that route," Clark said.

"Fair enough," Harry conceded. It was still hard for him to believe that he did things like that and used Passive Legilimency. But the Phantom Zone and the Second Wizarding War had changed him. Not even torturing was beyond what he was capable of, though that was something that he had no intention of doing again if he could help it.

"I've been meaning to ask you how you got your powers," Clark said, swiftly catching Harry's attention. "You were pretty vague when we first met. I got the impression that there were magic users in England and that you learned at a school, but that's about it."

"If you tell anyone that I am Emrys, I will magically affix blue kryptonite to your skin. But if you tell anyone what I'm about to tell you, then I will do it and drop you off in Alaska," Harry stated, making Clark look nervous. "But you should know the truth. My name is Harry James Potter, but my story begins before I was born. I guess it really starts with a man named Tom Riddle."

And with that, he began to tell Clark all about his past, though he briefly skimmed over his abusive childhood in the tale.

* * *

After they all returned home for the night, Luna decided to break the news to Harry.

"Harry, you might want to see something," she said, removing a newspaper from her bag and handing it to him.

He quickly saw that it was the Daily Prophet, but that was not what really interested him.

A muggle photograph was on the front cover. It was the picture of him freezing the wave of water from Reeves Dam with Zatanna not far away from him.

_Magic Exposed! Are we in danger?_

_This above photograph was copied from a widely read muggle newspaper. For months, a vigilante calling himself 'Emrys' has been dealing with muggle criminals in the city of Metropolis. Back in December, he was joined by an accomplice called 'Arcana.'_

_At first, they only displayed the abilities to move things with their minds and vanish without a trace, but that has changed as time progressed. There is no doubt about it. They have been using magic publically in the muggle world._

_What does this mean for the Wizarding World? If muggles are learning that magic exists, will they try to instigate a witch hunt?_

_This reporter believes that we cannot take the chance. Emrys and Arcana must be forced to stand trial for their crimes and locked away so that they cannot endanger our society further._

There were further quotes about it underneath the article, but what he focused on was the name. Rita Skeeter was apparently still writing and trying to stir up trouble. The quality of the article was different though, making him wonder if they had finally outlawed her quill.

"That went as expected," Harry said, handing the paper back to her. "You don't think that this is a surprise, do you? I knew this would happen from the moment that I became Emrys. It's all going according to my plans."

"That must be a plan that I'm not privy to," Zatanna remarked.

"Without proof that I've used a wand, the Department of Magical Affairs will argue that I am a Homo Magi. It won't dissuade the ICW completely, but they won't be able to demand that I be turned over to them. They may try to have me abducted, but they have no idea who they are dealing with," Harry explained. "I didn't mention it because it's not that important. Dumbledore helped me come up with the plan. All it really does is prevent anyone from trying to legally arrest me. Since you're actually a Homo Magi yourself, they really can't do anything about you either."

He had found it surprising that only the members of the ICW knew about the existence of the Homo Magi. It was a secret that the ICW kept religiously.

That secret would be exposed if the ICW really tried to go after him.

Before the discussion could go any further, Harry's cell phone began to ring.

Quickly answering it, Harry saw that it was Sylvester.

"I have good news and bad news," Sylvester said as soon as he answered. "Almost the entire team has agreed to come together and restart it, but they want something done before we're officially back together."

"What is it?" Harry asked with a sigh.

"They want Checkmate shut down," Sylvester answered in a grave tone. "As long as they are still operational, they can just try to shut us down again."

"I understand," Harry said, closing his eyes. "I'll call you back when it's done."

With that, he hung the phone up and looked at Zatanna. He relayed the message without breaking eye contact.

"How are we going to do that?" she asked once he was done.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to get in touch with Clark, Kara, Raya, and J'onn. We should be able to find out exactly where the headquarters are with Raya's hacking skills. Once we know where it is, we will destroy their headquarters and give whoever is in charge a simple message. We can be allies. We can cooperate. But we will not be pawns. And if that doesn't work, then we'll just have to do something else. I'm pretty persistent when I want something."

"I'll see if the team wants to help," Luna said, resolution in her eyes as well. She was reminded strongly of when she followed him in the past.

"And I'll ask around and see if anyone from the JSA wants to be involved," Zatanna added. "But that can wait until tomorrow. For now, we should go to bed and relax while we can.

"Agreed," Harry said, nodding his head.

He definitely had nothing to say against her suggestion.

"I will see you tomorrow," Luna told them before she disapparated away.

The pair quickly made their way up to Harry's bedroom.

Once inside, Zatanna showed no signs of wanting to sleep though.

**Smut Begins**

She kissed him as they shut the door. Her hands slid across his chest and eased his jacket off.

"I need you," she whispered, running one of her hands down his chest and over his groin. A smile surfaced as she felt him harden through his jeans.

"Me too," Harry told her before he leaned in to kiss her neck.

She unzipped his pants and unbuttoned them as he left kisses up and down her neck.

When he eased away from her neck, she got on her knees and pulled his jeans and boxers down in a single motion. The sudden removal caused his cock to slap her in the face, but it only seemed to excite her more.

With no preamble, she wrapped her lips around the head of his cock and looked him in the eyes with need.

"Damn," he whispered under his breath. "You look so sexy."

She began to slowly take more of him into her mouth until she reached the base. It seemed to take considerable effort, but Harry could not deny that it felt incredible.

It did not last long though. She pulled back until only the head was in her mouth and began to bob her head at a fast pace. He stroked her hair and resisted the urge to force her to take him deeper as he felt her hot tongue caressing his length with each movement.

Though they had not had sex in a while, he still had enough stamina to last ten minutes before releasing his load in her mouth.

"You seem to get better every time," he told her once she let go of his limp organ.

Swallowing the mouthful, she smiled and rose to her feet. She began to strip down to her bra and panties, allowing him to see her wetness.

"I want you," she told him as she began to stroke his cock, trying to get it hard again.

"And you'll have me," Harry replied, picking her up and carrying her over to the bed. He set her down at the edge of the bed and went down to his knees. Sliding the lace panties down her legs and tossing them to the side, Harry lowered his head to his opening.

He gave an experimental lick up her slit before reaching her clit. A moan escaped her lips and her eyes grew full of desire.

He was not in a hurry though.

Using his experience and his Parseltongue abilities, he focused his tongue and fingers on the sole purpose of pleasing her.

He did not stop until she had reached her orgasm for a third time.

She was panting, their activites having taken their toll on her. But she did not need to do anything further.

Harry pulled his shirt off and removed her bra as he got on the bed. He spread her legs and positioned his length at her entrance. Leaning forward, he kissed her. As the melted into the kiss, he thrust forward, becoming one with her.

He kept a steady pace, switching between kissing her and playing with her breasts as he made love to her. It would have been so easy for him to simply fuck her as hard and as fast as he could, but that was not what he wanted to do.

After an hour, they finally reached the climax of their session of their juices pooled together beneath their sexes.

It was only the first of several sessions that night.

**Smut Ends**

* * *

Author's Note: And that's the second to last chapter of Emrys. I'm probably going to rename it Harry Potter & the Rise of Emrys or Harry Potter & the Origin of Emrys. I hope to put up the final chapter today and the first chapter of the sequel tomorrow. The sequel will not start immediately after the next chapter though. It might start six months later.

I hope everyone is enjoying how certain things are being resolved, along with the promise of conflict with Checkmate in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading and reviewing this story. Even though this isn't my most popular story, it is my longest and has been generally well received.


	22. Checkmate

**21. Checkmate**

Inside the warehouse where Harry had first used as his headquarters, Harry was hosting a large meeting.

There was a massive table in the center of the warehouse with people surrounding it.

Harry had taken on leadership of the meeting simply because he had been the one to develop the plan.

That was not to say that he was unchallenged though.

Oliver had actually shown up to help, and he had wanted to take on the role of leadership.

The JSA's former leader, Hawkman, had done the exact same.

It was only when Clark had stepped forward and supported Harry's leadership for the mission that they had backed down.

The turnout for the meeting had been surprising, to say the least. Oliver's entire team had shown up, including Red Arrow. From the JSA, Hawkman, the Star-Spangled Kid, and the retired Green Lantern had shown up. They were joined by J'onn J'onzz, Kara Zor-El, and Raya.

It was the first time Harry had seen any of them in costumes, but Clark and the other aliens were in disguise. Clark had taken to wearing dark boots, blue jeans, a red leather jacket with the Mark of El engraved in the front of it, and a blue shirt underneath the jacket. J'onn had simply shifted into his Martian form with his clothes remaining the same for the most part. Kara had taken to wearing a blue shirt, a red skirt, and red boots. As she had not made a public appearance as Kara Kent yet, she would not be recognized. And Raya was actually wearing a Harry's original suit but with a solid black shirt instead of the one that had the mark of the Deathly Hallows on it.

"What's the plan?" Hawkman asked gruffly, still not happy that he was forced to follow the leadership of someone so much younger than him.

"Checkmate uses a base called _the Castle_ as its headquarters. It is located in the Rocky Mountains. We actually know exactly where it is and even have the schematics of the building thanks to Raya. Tonight, we need to meet just outside of the headquarters. If you don't have a way to get there by eight o'clock tonight, tell me and I'll arrange magical transportation."

"I can take several people with me," Alan Scott said, looking at his power ring.

"I can fly," Carter Hall grunted.

"I'll be there," Sylvester Pemberton stated.

"I'll take Red Arrow, Cyborg, Aquaman, Black Canary, and Valkyrie," Oliver said, looking at Roy Harper, Victor Stone, Arthur Curry, Dinah Lance, and Andrea Rojas.

"I'll run," Bart Allen told them with a cocky grin.

"I'll fly," Clark said, followed by similar statements from J'onn, Raya, Kara, and Luna.

"And we'll meet you guys there," Harry said, looking at Zatanna. "But first, we need to get on to the plan after we show up. Plans never survive first contact, so I'll keep it simple. We need to split up into teams. I want the JSA members on one team. The second team should consist of Valkyrie, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, and Black Canary. The third team should consist of Cyborg, Aquaman, and Impulse. The fourth team should consist of Superman, Supergirl, Raya, and the Martian Manhunter. The final team will consist of Arcana, Doctor Fate, and me. We will divide the Castle into four different sections. Each team is to clear that section. The third team has a different task. They need to get into Checkmate's servers and find out everything they can. I'd prefer that they be wiped once it's done, but I'll leave that up to you."

"By _clear_, what do you mean?" Raya asked, remembering Harry's reputation.

"No one is to be killed unless there is absolutely no choice," Harry said in a tone that brooked no argument. "Take everyone alive unless you have no choice. I want everyone that you find inside to be knocked unconscious and left at least a mile away from the base. Once we are done, I will destroy the Castle with hellfire. Do not allow yourselves to be careless in your search through the facility."

"I might actually start to like you," Hawkman said gruffly.

"Save it until tomorrow," Harry told him. "Unless there are any questions, take a copy of the schematics off the table and move out."

Once he gave them the GPS coordinates to the base, they did just that.

* * *

The five teams of heroes met a mile away from the Castle.

It was partially located on a lake and would have had a beautiful view if it was not the headquarters of an organization that wanted to control metahumans.

Hawkman, Green Arrow, Cyborg, the Martian Manhunter, and Harry were the only ones that had on headsets so that they could directly communicate with each other. They were the team leaders. Clark, or Superman as Kara had insisted that he be called, would have led his team, but J'onn did have far more experience. Like Harry, he knew war.

Oliver's team was to take the courtyard of the Castle and help forcibly evacuate the residents.

Cyborg's team was to go in with Oliver's team and find the nearest access point to the Castle's network.

Hawkman's team was to fly in and clear the smaller of the two building that made up the Castle.

J'onn and Harry's teams were to take the other building. The former was to take the bottom level and the underground levels, whereas the latter was to take the upper levels.

Both teams had flown over the walls, but their actual entry into the Castle's structure was different. J'onn's team entered from the ground floor, and Harry's team had crashed through a window on the second level.

They just so happened to enter through the window of a populated room, resulting in a dozen guards pointing their guns at them.

"Freeze!" one of the guards yelled.

"No thanks," Harry said, disapparating behind the guard and slamming his pole into the back of the man's head.

Electricity shot from Luna's hands, shocking several other guards.

"Dnuob yb leets!" Zatanna called out, summoning chains that bound the rest of the guards.

"Doctor Fate, deposit them a mile away from the Castle," Harry ordered. He knew that she could do it easier than they could.

One by one, they began to clear the rooms, carefully disarming and incapacitating the guards before having Luna deposit them a mile away.

"Arrow to Emrys. Courtyard is secure," Oliver said through the headset after they cleared the second level.

"Cyborg to Emrys. Communications have been cut and all information had been downloaded. Back-up files exist in the Pentagon, so there's no point in deleting it all," Victor said through the headset a floor later.

"We're done here," Hawkman said through the headset right after they finished clearing two more floors.

As they were reaching the last floor, they heard J'onn give a report.

"There's been a complication on our end. There's a White Martian down here. She appears confused and angry."

"Be careful," Harry told him. He knew better than to tell J'onn to just kill her or to use all his strength. He had told Harry that he was the last Martian, so finding another one, even if it was a different kind, would have to mean a great deal to him.

They quickly searched the top level room by room, but they did not find anyone there.

As they were approaching the final room, they saw that there were figures standing in front of the final door.

The first two figures were massive stone golems that his Mage Sight told him were heavily enchanted. But the final figure was human. Harry saw nothing about him that looked different. Through his Mage Sight, at least.

Along with armor, he wore a mask that was half orange and half black. A gun was held in each hand. A sword could be seen on his back.

"I don't think so," Harry said,summoning the handguns to him with ease. The moment that they landed in his hands, he pointed them at the golems and began to shoot. They did absolutely no damage, but he did empty the guns quickly. Seeking that they were useless, Harry threw the guns behind him and gripped his staff.

Luna flew towards one of the golems and began to trade blows with it. It was much slower than she was, but it was more durable and had greater strength as well.

Zatanna moved towards the other golem, relying on her speed and agility as she cast spells upon it. Her ice and fire spells seemed to do no damage to it, though her lightning spells actually seemed to damage it.

Harry on the other hand, rushed towards the man and prepared to fight him.

Sword and staff met the moment that they neared each other.

"What are you called?" Harry asked as he casually threw him back.

"You can call me Deathstroke," he answered, doing a flip and then moving forward with a thrust.

"And you can call me Master of Death," Harry said, batting the blade of the sword aside with his staff and then hitting Deathstroke in the back of the head with the other end.

Deathstroke was not one to simply take a hit and go down though. Instead, he rolled forward, allowing the staff to just barely touch the back of his head.

Unfortunately for him, he did not yet know how to fight a wizard.

A red light shot from Harry's staff and hit Deathstroke in the back, knocking him out.

Fighting a wizard was not easy for someone that lacked powers of any kind. Possible but difficult.

Seeing that Luna was getting tired and Zatanna was close to exhausting herself as well, Harry stuck his staff to his back with a Sticking Charm and extended a hand towards each golem. Fiendfyre shot forth from each hand and wrapped around the golems as snakes. Apparently, they were not designed to withstand hellfire and were soon reduced to nothingness.

"Take Deathstroke away from here and wait for us outside," Harry told Luna as he made his way to the door.

Just as he was nearing it, he heard J'onn's voice again.

"Martian Manhunter to Emrys. We are done down here, and we appear to have gained a new ally. Once I was able to calm her down, she chose to join us and learn more about her people."

"I'm going to the last room now," Harry said into the headset. "If you are completely sure that we have cleared the place, then wait for us near the evacuation site."

"About time," Hawkman muttered.

"On it," Green Arrow said.

"We'll be there," Cyborg said.

"Good luck," J'onn replied.

Pushing the doors opened, Harry saw the woman he was looking for.

"Hello Waller," Harry greeted with his Mage Sight active.

"Emrys, I wondered when I'd have the pleasure of meeting you," Amanda Waller greeted in return. "I had hoped it would be under better circumstances though. You've made a mess of things."

"As did your agency," Harry retorted. "How many lives were lost because Checkmate forced the JSA into retirement?"

"The United States Government cannot support vigilantism. That is not how it works," she said, shaking her head.

"Maybe it should," Harry stated. "I've done more good as Emrys than any living officer of the law. The same can be said of any member of the JSA, not to mention the new generation. What does it matter if we bring criminals to the police and stop crimes that are in progress? It would be one thing if we were acting as the judge, jury, and executioner, but that's not how we operate."

"It would be so easy for that to change," Waller pointed out.

"Then find another solution," Harry told her flatly. "Come up with a plan to deal with us if we cross that line. We will not unmask. We will not become the pawns of any government. And we will never give up."

"I can respect your conviction," Waller told him, never breaking eye contact. "But tell me why. Why do you refuse to unmask?"

"It's safer to hide behind a mask. Not for ourselves but for our loves ones," Harry told her simply. "There's little difference in asking that of us and asking every spy and undercover officer that the United States has, along with everyone in Witness Protection, to stand up and proudly proclaim who they truly are to the world."

"You have a point," Waller admitted. "You've made your point. I will make the suggestion to the higher-ups that Checkmate should be shut down and replaced with something different. Not that they would keep it open much longer after we were compromised like this."

Harry could tell that she was telling the truth there. She was not giving up. No, she saw it as making a tactical retreat and coming up with a new plan of action.

"_Portus_," he whispered, pointing at a chessboard that she had in her office. "We will leave. You have three minutes to leave. If you touch that chessboard, it will send you to Star City. By the time you can report to anyone, this place will be burned into nothing."

"A portkey, huh?" Waller asked, looking at Harry curiously. "You're very interesting, _Emrys_."

Not saying anything further, Harry and Zatanna made their way out of the room. Both looked surprised to hear that she knew exactly what he had done to the chessboard, but it did make sense for her to know about the magical world.

Just after they were outside of the room, Harry removed a glass jar from his jacket removed the lid. He placed a small sphere of fiendfyre inside of the jar, replaced the lid, and then placed a charm upon it. For the next four minutes, the jar would be immune to all flames. He had tested that specific enchantment before so he would not make a mistake.

Once he set the jar on the ground, they vanished, one using apparition and the other using teleportation.

* * *

The fifteen heroes met not far from all the evacuated guards. There was one more individual with them. She appeared to be a girl in her late teens with red hair and freckles.

"It's done," Harry told them, erecting an Imperturbable Charm around them.

"Where are the flames?" Hawkman asked impatiently.

"Wait about four minutes and it'll go up in fire," Harry promised.

He noticed that the youthful girl appeared to be unnerved by the idea of that.

"Harry, this is Megan Morse. She is… well, you can call her my niece," J'onn said, introducing the two.

"It's nice to meet you," he told her, offering his hand.

She shyly shook it, still on edge.

"I'm sure we'll be seeking each other again," Harry said before he turned to Zatanna. "But for now, I think I'm about ready to call it a night."

"I'll leave once the place burns," Hawkman said.

"We'll tell the rest of the JSA what happened," the Green Lantern added.

"I think I'm ready to call it a night too," Oliver said, receiving nods from his teammates.

"Good luck out there," Clark said, looking to Harry. "You must have encountered the one in charge, so they'll be looking for you."

"I've dealt with worse," Harry chuckled.

That was something Clark could not deny.

After saying all their farewells, the heroes left. Oliver's main members made their way back to the road so that they could head to the airport, the Green Lantern flew back to Metropolis with the Star-Spangled Kid hitching a ride, the two Martians flew to Metropolis, two of the three Kryptonians flew back to Smallville, and the third Kryptonian flew back to New York.

Harry and Zatanna apparated back to the Sanctum only after the Castle caught fire.

The death of Checkmate represented a change that could only be good for the heroes.

* * *

"Amanda Waller, do you have anything more to say?" a figure standing in the dark asked.

Several days had passed since the Castle was reduced to ash, and the meeting that she had been waiting on had finally occurred.

"No, I do not," Waller answered, shaking her head. She had put everything that needed to be said in her report.

"In that case, you should know that it has been decided that you will face no repercussions for the destruction of Checkmate. It was an outdated agency and would have caused great pain if the public had ever discovered it."

That was true. After Emrys and Arcana had become accepted as superheroes in the Daily Planet, trying to control them would have ended horribly.

"These vigilantes do stand to cause us serious problems in the future, but we do have plans. You will be involved in one such plan, though it will have more than just that purpose," the shadowed figured continued. "We are placing you in charge of a special team."

"What team is that?" Waller asked curiously.

"The Suicide Squad."

* * *

Author's Note: And that is the end of Part 1 of the Emrys Saga.

Part 2 should be published tomorrow, 5/21/13. At that time, this story will be renamed from Emrys to Harry Potter & the Rise of Emrys.

This chapter was not as exciting as I would have liked it to be, but as the Suicide Squad was not formed until the end of this story, it wouldn't have made sense for anyone but hired guns to be at the Castle. Writing about anyone with super powers fighting regular people is pretty boring. Writing about Deathstroke vs Green Arrow would have been interesting, but a magical makes it too unfair.

To anyone who doesn't know, Megan Morse (Miss Martian) is a White Martian. Her parents sent her to Earth before the end of the war with the Green Martians. She landed in Colorado and was found by Checkmate. Once there, she was raised by King Faraday. She has to at least be a year or two older than Clark, but let's assume that she is mentally between seventeen and nineteen years old (she was in captivity, after all) and she can appear whatever age she wants because she's a Martian. King Faraday died a natural death before this chapter. That's a divergence from the Smallville comics, but it makes things simpler. While he died a natural death there was well, it was a few years later.

Anyways, I will not be adding anything else to this story, so don't expect a sequel notice to be added here. Just put me on Author Alert or check my profile until it shows up.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. It's been a blast.


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